HPLC method with solid-phase extraction for determination of (R)- and (S)-ketoprofen in plasma without caffeine interference: application to pharmacokinetic studies in rats.

A fast and reproducible high-performance liquid chromatography method has been developed for the determination of (R)- and (S)-ketoprofen. Ketoprofen enantiomers were determined in plasma samples (50 µL), after solid-phase extraction, using diclofenac as internal standard. Analyses were performed on a (S, S)-Whelk-O 1 stainless steel column (5 µm, 250 × 4.6 mm) using hexane-ethanol-acetic acid (93:7:0.5, v/v/v) as the mobile phase and detection at 254 nm. The method was selective for ketoprofen enantiomers in the presence of caffeine and endogenous plasma compounds. Standard curves were linear (R(2) > 0.999) over the concentration range of 0.25-12.50 and 0.25 µg/mL was taken as the limit of quantification. The intra- and interday precision (relative standard deviation) values were <15.0% and the accuracy (relative error) was within ±12.0% at 1.0, 5.0 and 10.0 µg/mL. Enantiomer recoveries yielded 100.0 ± 15%. No significant differences were determined in plasma samples stored at room temperature for 24.0 h, after two freeze-thaw cycles, and between 0 and 4 weeks at -20°C (P > 0.05). The validated method was successfully applied in determination of (S)-ketoprofen in Wistar rats after oral administration of 3.2 mg/kg of (S)-ketoprofen alone or 3.2 mg/kg of (S)-ketoprofen + 17.8 mg/kg of caffeine.

High-performance liquid chromatographic assay for metamizol metabolites in rat plasma: application to pharmacokinetic studies.

In order to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of metamizol in the presence of morphine in arthritic rats, after subcutaneous administration of the drugs, an easy, rapid, sensitive and selective analytical method was proposed and validated. The four main metamizol metabolites (4-methylaminoantipyrine, 4-aminoantipyrine, 4-acetylaminoantipyrine and 4-formylaminoantipyrine) were extracted from plasma samples (50-100µl) by a single solid-phase extraction method prior to reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection. Standard calibration graphs for all metabolites were linear within a range of 1-100µg/ml (r(2)≥0.99). The intra-day coefficients of variation (CV) were in the range of 1.3-8.4% and the inter-day CV ranged from 1.5 to 8.4%. The intra-day assay accuracy was in the range of 0.6-9.6% and the inter-day assay accuracy ranged from 0.9 to 7.5% of relative error. The lower limit of quantification was 1µg/ml for all metabolites using a plasma sample of 100µl. Plasma samples were stable at least for 4 weeks at -20°C. This method was found to be suitable for studying metamizol metabolites pharmacokinetics in arthritic rats, after simultaneous administration of metamizol and morphine, in single dose.

Comparison of dissolution profiles for albendazole tablets using USP apparatus 2 and 4.

The in vitro dissolution of albendazole from three different commercially available products (200 mg tablets) was studied using U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) Apparatus 2 and USP Apparatus 4 in order to compare the release performance of the drug in two essentially different dissolution systems. For both cases, 0.1 N HCl was used as dissolution medium. Only the reference product and one of the generic products studied met the 80% USP 24 specification for albendazole dissolved at 30 min, using USP Apparatus 2. Although the reference product reached 80% of albendazole dissolved at 30 min when Apparatus 4 was used, the generic products' dissolution performance was markedly reduced in this system. Though dissolution rate was slower using Apparatus 4, the total quantity of albendazole dissolved from the reference product, represented by area under the dissolution profile, was practically the same regardless of the system used. Dissolution kinetics of albendazole was adequately described by Weibull's function for all the products. The dissolution time (t(d)) derived from data fitting to this function showed significant differences among the products studied. Data analysis based on analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed nonequivalence among the dissolution profiles of generic products compared with the reference product either with the dissolution vessel system or the flow-through cell, as well as nonequivalence among the dissolution profiles using both apparatuses with the same product. Though differences in the dissolution profiles for generic products against the reference product in both systems were found, USP Apparatus 4 showed higher discriminative capacity in differentiating the release characteristics of the products tested.