Analytical methods for determination of new fluoroquinolones in biological matrices and pharmaceutical formulations by liquid chromatography: a review

Fluoroquinolones are one of the most promising and intensively studied drugs of contemporary anti-infective chemotherapy. New fluoroquinolone antibacterials with improved pharmacokinetic properties and a broad spectrum of activity have been developed, opening new windows of opportunity for clinical use. To our knowledge, no comprehensive and critical review of the analytical methods for the determination of these agents, which correspond to the third- and fourth-generation quinolones, has yet been published. This work summarizes for the first time most of the liquid chromatographic methods reported in the literature for the separation and quantification of the new fluoroquinolones in biological matrices and pharmaceutical formulations. A systematic and detailed survey of physicochemical properties, sample preparation procedures, and chromatographic and detection conditions is presented herein. In the course of this review several liquid chromatographic methods are discussed: reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (IEX-HPLC), hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC), high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) and other chiral chromatographic methods. Their advantages, applicability and limitations are also examined.     

Analytical methods for the determination of fluoroquinolones in solid environmental matrices

We present a critical review of the analytical procedures proposed in the past decade for the determination of fluoroquinolones (FQs) by chromatographic methods in solid environmental matrices. We emphasize the overall analytical procedure, from sampling to final detection. We devote special attention to sample preparation, highlighting the problems involved in the analysis of real complex matrices, mainly soil, sediment, manure and sludge. We compare the different extraction techniques in terms of efficiency, time taken and environmental impact, pointing out advantages and drawbacks. We provide an overview on the role of photochemistry in the degradation of FQs in soils and sediments, and we underline the central position of analytical chemistry in environmental monitoring because FQs are emerging pollutants.     

Validation of liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry methods for the determination of etoricoxib in pharmaceutical formulations

Reversed-phase liquid chromatography (LC) and LC/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) methods were developed and validated for the determination of etoricoxib in pharmaceutical dosage forms. The LC method was performed by reversed-phase chromatography on a Synergi fusion C18 column (150 x 4.6 mm id) maintained at ambient temperature. The mobile phase consisted of 0.01 M phosphoric acid, pH 3.0-acetonitrile (62 + 38, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min, and photodiode array detection at 234 nm was used. The chromatographic separation was obtained within 7.0 min, and calibration curves were linear in the concentration range of 0.02-150 microg/mL. The LC/MS/MS method was performed on a Luna C18 column (50 x 3.0 mm id). The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-water (95 + 5)-0.1% acetic acid (90 + 10, v/v). Detection was performed by positive electrospray ionization in the multiple reaction monitoring mode, monitoring the transitions 359.3 > 280.0 and 332.0 > 95.0 for etoricoxib and piroxicam (internal standard), respectively. The chromatographic separation was obtained within 2.0 min, and calibration curves were linear in the concentration range of 1-5000 ng/mL. Validation parameters, such as specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, and robustness, were evaluated, which gave results within the acceptable range for both methods. Moreover, the proposed methods were successfully applied for routine quality control analysis of pharmaceutical products and showed significant correlation (r = 0.9999) of the results.     

Comparison of different liquid chromatography methods for the determination of corticosteroids in biological matrices

Various extraction techniques can be combined with column liquid chromatography (LC) and ultraviolet (UV) or mass spectrometric (MS) detection for the determination of synthetic corticosteroids in biological matrices. Target analysis of low concentrations of 25 microg/kg of dexamethasone in feed can be performed by combining immunoaffinity chromatography (IAC) and LC with UV detection. A straightforward multi-analyte procedure is obtained by tandem solid-phase extraction (SPE) and subsequent LC-UV. However, the limits of detection for feed samples are then relatively poor, viz. 100 microg/kg. A multi-analyte method which meets modern demands of about 5 microg/kg detection limit requires one-step SPE combined with LC-MS analysis. As regards urine corticosteroids can be determined down to a level of 0.5 microg/l by either SPE-LC-MS- MS or SPE(IAC)-LC-MS.     

Development and validation of a new high-performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of gliclazide and repaglinide in pharmaceutical formulations

A new high-performance liquid chromatography method was developed and validated for the quantitation of gliclazide and repaglinide in pharmaceutical formulations. Determination was performed using a LiChroCART RP-18 column, a mobile phase containing acetonitrile-phosphate buffer (pH 2.1; 60 + 40, v/v), and ultraviolet (UV) detection at 225 nm. Repaglinide was used as an internal standard for gliclazide determination and gliclazide for repaglinide assay. The method was validated with respect to linearity, precision, robustness, ruggedness, accuracy, and specificity. The calibration graphs ranged from 0.015 to 0.09 mg/mL for gliclazide and 0.06 to 0.36 mg/mL for repaglinide. Intra- and interday relative standard deviation values for the standard solutions were 0.70 and 1.01% for gliclazide and 0.78 and 0.93% for repaglinide, respectively. Total recoveries of gliclazide and repaglinide from the laboratory-prepared mixtures were 99.82 +/- 0.58 and 101.50 +/- 0.46% for gliclazide and repaglinide, respectively [mean +/- standard deviation (SD)]. In forced degradation studies, the effect of acid, base, oxidation, UV light, and temperature on both drugs was also investigated. Finally, the method was applied for the quality control of commercial gliclazide and repaglinide tablets. Total recovery was 100.40 +/- 0.35 and 104.46 +/- 0.23% for gliclazide and repaglinide, respectively (mean +/- SD).     

Quantitative determination of acivicin in bulk drug and pharmaceutical formulations by ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography

An ion-pair reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of the purity of acivicin and the amount of drug in a sterile powder and two sterile solution formulations is described. The method displays good recoveries (98.4-100.4%) for all formulations and a linear range of 0.002-20 micrograms of drug injected. Estimates of assay precision were 1.3% for the bulk drug, 0.6% for sterile solution formulations and 1.6% for the sterile powder formulations.     

Analytical methods for antifouling booster biocides determination in environmental matrices: A review

Since the discovery of their toxicity to aquatic environments, antifouling booster biocides (ABBs) have been widely researched and detected at trace levels in diverse environmental compartments including water, sediment, and, less frequently, biota. Hence, the reliable assessment of environmental risks posed by ABBs requires the development of analytical methods sufficiently robust, accurate, and precise for the simultaneous trace-level determination of ABBs. Herein, we summarize outstanding sample preparation procedures for the analysis of main ABBs in environmental matrices, describing techniques ranging from traditional extraction methods to novel miniaturized and micro-extraction ones, which have recently received much attention due to their reduced number of steps, low operational cost, and greater respect for the environment. The main applied chromatographic-based methods coupled to different detection techniques are also addressed. Despite the recent development of numerous ABBs determination methods, this topic continues to draw attention because of the lack of standardization among methods, despite legislation set up maximum standards levels for selected ABBs, and the need to monitor ABB transformation products for a reliable ecological risk assessment.     

Development of a simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography method for determination of glucosamine in pharmaceutical formulations

A column high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for the determination of glucosamine in dosage forms. Glucosamine was derivatized by addition of a solution containing orthophthaldialdehyde. The HPLC separation was achieved on a Spherimage 80 ODS2 column (250 x 4 mm id, 5 microm particle size) using an isocratic mobile phase containing phosphate buffer-methanol (90 + 10, v/v, pH 6.50) and methanol-tetrahydrofuran (97 + 3, v/v) in proportions of 85 + 15 at a flow rate of 1 mL/min, followed by fluorescence detection. The method was validated for specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantitation (LOQ). The detector response for glucosamine HCI was linear over the concentration range of 0.1-20 microg/mL with a correlation coefficient of 0.9980. The accuracy was between 99.4 and 100.8%. The LOD and the LOQ were 0.009 and 0.027 microg/mL, respectively. The method was applied to determination of glucosamine in solid dosage forms.     

高效液相色谱法检测六种氟喹诺酮类兽药残留前处理的优化

建立了一个检测动物源性食品中6种氟喹诺酮类药物残留的高效液相色谱方法。不同基质的样品前处理对检测影响较大:鱼、肉及肝脏等样品需经过乙腈-0.1 mol/L KH2PO4缓冲液提取,乙腈饱和的正己烷洗涤去除油脂;蛋及乳制品样品用正己烷饱和的乙腈提取,乙腈饱和的正己烷去脂。目标化合物采用高效液相色谱-荧光检测器检测,外标法定量。对市售鸡肉、猪肉、鸡蛋进行检测,添加10、20、50、100μg/kg浓度水平时,回收率在82%~105%之间,相对标准偏差在4%~12%之间,方法的检出限诺氟沙星、环丙沙星、沙拉沙星及单诺沙星为5.0μg/Kg,恩诺沙星、达氟沙星为3.0μg/Kg。     

Determination of flurbiprofen in pharmaceutical formulations by UV spectrophotometry and liquid chromatography

In this study, a new and rapid UV spectrophotometric (UV) method and a reversed phase high performance liquid chromatographic (LC) method were developed for quantitative estimation of flurbiprofen, a non-selective, non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), in pure form and in pharmaceutical dosage form. The solvent system, wavelength of detection, chromatographic conditions were optimized in order to maximize the sensitivity of both the proposed methods. The linear regression equations obtained by least square regression method were Abs=7.5906×10⁻² concentration (μg/ml) + (−) 4.6210×10⁻² for the UV method, and peak area=1.2652×10² concentration (ng/ml) + 1.4830×10³ for the LC method. The detection limit as per the error propagation theory was found to be 0.34 μg/ml for UV method and 15 ng/ml for LC method. The developed methods were successfully employed with high degree of precision and accuracy for the estimation of total drug content in two commercial ophthalmic drops of flurbiprofen. The results of analysis were treated statistically, as per USP 2000 and International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines for validation of analytical procedures, and by recovery studies. The results obtained from UV method were comparable with those obtained by using LC. It was concluded that both the developed methods are equally accurate, sensitive, precise, reproducible, robust and rugged and could be applied directly and easily to the pharmaceutical preparations of flurbiprofen. However, LC method is useful at very low level (ng/ml), whereas UV method is suitable at μg/ml level.     

High-performance liquid chromatography for the determination of three new fluoroquinolones, fleroxacin, temafloxacin and A-64730, in biological fluids

High-performance liquid chromatographic procedures have been developed for the measurement of three new fluoroquinolones, fleroxacin, temafloxacin and A-64730, in serum, urine and bile. The sample treatment consists of a two-step chemical extraction. The three molecules are chromatographed on a C18 reversed-phase analytical column with spectrofluorimetric detection. At a signal-to-noise ratio of 4, the detection limits in serum are 2.5, 10 and 20 ng/ml, for fleroxacin, temafloxacin and A-64730, respectively. The calibration curves are rectilinear between these detection limits and 20 micrograms/ml. The intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation are in the ranges 0.8-5.4 and 2.2-7.6%, respectively. These simple and reliable assay procedures will be of great interest for further pharmacokinetic studies and drug monitoring in hospital use.     

High performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis determination of sanguinarine in biological matrices

HPLC and CE methods were employed to determine the quaternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloid sanguinarine in biological matrices (rat hepatocytes, human gingival fibroblasts, feed, porcine faeces, body fluids and tissues). HPLC was carried out on a C₁₈ column using gradient elution and ion pairing techniques with 1‐heptanesulfonic acid as ion pairing agent under acidic conditions. The detection limit for fluorimetric detection at λ_ex = 327 nm and λ_em = 577 nm was 3 nM sanguinarine. CE analyses were performed in 50 mM phosphate‐Na buffer pH 2.5, with 150 mM SDS used for pre‐concentration by the sweeping effect. This experimental configuration allows injecting the total capillary length with sanguinarine sample. The detection limit for UV detection at 285 nm was 12 nM. Both methods are suitable for analysing submicromolar quantities of sanguinarine in biological materials. The HPLC method is more sensitive than CE because it uses fluorescence detection.     

Coupled high-performance liquid chromatography-gas chromatography for the determination of pesticide residues in biological matrices

A fully automated high-performance liquid chromatography-gas chromatography (HPLC-GC) network is described. A ten-port valve set up as a loop type LC-GC interface allowed the transfer of large LC effluent fractions into the gas chromatograph by concurrent solvent evaporation. The system performed highly efficient sample enrichment and clean up by LC and on-line GC separation with sensitive electron-capture detection. The efficiency of the system was demonstrated by application to the trace analysis of N-(3-chloro-2,6-dimethylphenyl)-N-(2-oxotetrahydrofuranyl)-2-me thoxyacetamide (CGA 80000) in various crops and soil samples. The residue level determined was 0.02 mg/kg for crop samples and 0.01 mg/kg for soil samples. The relative standard deviations of the calibration graphs were in the range 2-5%; the mean recovery was greater than 85%.     

Four spectrophotometric methods for determination of nitrofurazone in pharmaceutical formulations

Four simple and sensitive visible spectrophotometric methods (A-D) for the determination of nitrofurazone in bulk samples and pharmaceutical formulations are described. They are based on the formation of colored species by treating either its reduction product with 3-methylbenzothiazolin-2-one hydrazone in the presence of ferric chloride (method A: _max 600 nm) or its hydrolysis product with thiobarbituric acid (method B: _max 520 nm, 440 nm) or barbituric acid (method C: _max 400 nm) or by oxidizing it with excess N-bromosuccinimide and determining the consumed NBS using metol-isonicotinic acid hydrazide (method D: _max 620 nm).     

Fast HPLC method using ion-pair and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography for determination of phenylephrine in pharmaceutical formulations

A rapid procedure based on a direct extraction and HPLC determination with fluorescence detection of phenylephrine in pharmaceutical sachets that include a large excess of paracetamol (65 + 1, w/w), ascorbic acid (5 + 1, w/w), and other excipients (aspartame and sucrose) was developed and validated. The final optimized chromatographic method for ion-pair chromatography used an XTerra RP18 column, 3 microm particle size, 50 x 3.0 mm id. The mobile phase consisted of a mixture of acetonitrile and buffer (10 mM sodium octane-1-sulfonate, adjusted with H3PO4 to pH 2.2; 200 + 800, v/v), with a constant flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. The separation was carried out at 30 degrees C, and the injection volume was 3 microL. Fluorescence detection was performed at excitation and emission wavelengths of 275 and 310 nm, respectively. The mobile phase parameters, such as the organic solvent fraction (acetonitrile) in mobile phase as an organic modifier, the concentration of sodium octane-1-sulfonate as a counter-ion, temperature, and pH of mobile phase, were studied. As an alternative to ion-pair chromatography, hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) was investigated using a Luna HILIC column, 3 microm, 100 x 4.6 mm id. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile and buffer (5 mM potassium dihydrogen phosphate, adjusted with H3PO4 to pH 2.5; 750 + 250, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min. The separation was carried out at 25 degrees C, and the injection volume was 5 microL. The proposed method has an advantage of a very simple sample pretreatment, and is much faster than the currently utilized HPLC methods using gradient elution and UV detection. Commercial samples of sachets were successfully analyzed by the proposed HPLC method.     

Two- and three-way chemometrics methods applied for spectrophotometric determination of lorazepam in pharmaceutical formulations and biological fluids

In this work, direct determination of lorazepam, an anxiolytic and sedative agent, in pharmaceutical formulations and biological fluids (urine and human plasma) was accomplished based on ultraviolet spectrophotometry (260-380 nm) using parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) and partial least squares (PLS). The study was carried out in the pH range from 1.0 to 12.0 and with a concentration range from 0.50 to 8.75 μg ml⁻¹ of lorazepam. Multivariate calibration models using PLS at different pH and PARAFAC were elaborated for ultraviolet spectra deconvolution and lorazepam quantitation. The best models for the system were obtained with PARAFAC and PLS at pH = 2.05 (PLS-PH2). The capabilities of the method for the analysis of real samples were evaluated by determination of lorazepam in pharmaceutical preparations and biological (urine and plasma) fluids with satisfactory results. The accuracy of the method, evaluated through the root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP), was 0.0429 for lorazepam with best calibration curve by PARAFAC and 0.0467 for lorazepam with PLS model at best pH. The protolytic equilibria of lorazepam at 25 °C and ionic strength of 0.1 M have also been determined spectrophotometrically. Protolytic equilibria of lorazepam were evaluated by DATAN program using the corresponding absorption spectra-pH data. The obtained pK_a values of lorazepam are 1.54 and 11.61 for pK_a1 and pK_a2, respectively.     

Extractive spectrophotometric determination of fluoroquinolones and antiallergic drugs in pure and pharmaceutical formulations.

A simple, rapid and sensitive spectrophotometric procedure has been proposed for the assay of fluoroquinolones viz., ciprofloxacin (CPF) and norfloxacin (NRF), and antiallergic drugs viz., methdilazine hydrochloride (MDH) and isothipendyl hydrochloride (IPH) in bulk and pharmaceutical formulations. The method is based on the reaction of selected drugs with Brilliant Blue G (BBG) in NaOAc-AcOH buffer of pH 4.0 for CPF and NRF or in neutral medium for MDH and IPH to give chloroform soluble ion-association complexes. The effects of various parameters have been studied. The ion-association complexes exhibited absorption maxima at 610 nm for CPF, at 614 nm for NRF and MDH, and at 612 nm for IPH. Beer's law plots were obeyed in the concentration ranges of 0.5-6.0, 0.4-8.0, 0.1-6.0 and 0.2-6.1 (mg ml(-1) for CPF, NRF, MDH and IPH, respectively, with correlation coefficients not less than 0.9969. Molar absorptivity values as calculated from the Beer's law data were found to be 2.86 x 10(4), 2.64 x 10(4), 3.13 x 10(4) and 5.51 x 10(4) mol(-1) cm(-1) for CPF, NRF, MDH and IPH, respectively. The influence of commonly employed excipients in the determination of the studied drugs has been studied. The results obtained by the proposed method were statistically validated.     

Determination of tropicamide in pharmaceutical formulations using high-performance liquid chromatography

An isocratic, reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method was developed for determination of tropicamide using atropine as an internal standard in a pharmaceutical dosage form. Tropicamide and atropine sulfate were separated using a microBondapak ODS (C18) column by isocratic elution of mobile phase with flow rate of 2.0 ml/min. The mobile phase composition was methanol-50 mM phosphate buffer (pH 4; 30:70, v/v). The eluate was monitored at 257 nm with detector range setting fixed at 0.01 AUFS. Under these conditions, the retention times were 4.81 min for atropine and 11.89 min for tropicamide. The standard calibration curve was linear over a sample concentration range from 2 to 300 microg/ml, with limit of detection of 0.15 microg/ml. The assay linearity was good (typically r2 = 0.9992) and the standard curves were linear in the detection range. The precision of the method (expressed by relative standard deviation) and the accuracy (mean error in percent) were <5% for both intra- and inter-day assays. Recovery at 80-120% of labeled claim ranged from 98.4 to 100.7% for tropicamide. The proposed method was satisfactorily applied to the determination of tropicamide in pharmaceutical preparation and stability indicating studies.     

Extractive-spectrophotometric methods for determination of anti-Parkinsonian drug in pharmaceutical formulations and in biological samples using sulphonphthalein acid dyes

A simple, accurate and highly sensitive spectrophotometric methods are proposed for the rapid and accurate determination of amantadine HCl (AMD) using bromocressol green (BCG), bromophenol blue (BPB) and bromothymol blue (BTB). The developed methods involve formation of stable yellow colored chloroform extractable ion-associate complexes of the amino derivative (basic nitrogen) of the AMD with three sulphonphthalein acid dyes, namely; BCG, BPB and BTB, in acidic medium. The ion-associates exhibit absorption maxima at 415, 412 and 414 nm for BCG, BPB and BTB, respectively. AMD can be determined up to 1.5–16.5, 1.4–14.0 and 1.6–17 μg mL^?1, respectively. The effect of optimum conditions via acidity, reagent concentration, time, and solvent was studied. The stoichiometry of the reaction was found to be 1:1 in all cases. The low relative standard deviation values indicate good precision and high recovery values. These methods have been successfully applied for the assay of AMD in pharmaceutical formulations. Statistical comparison of the results with the reference method shows excellent agreement and indicates no significant difference in accuracy and precision.