Micellar liquid chromatography as a sustainable tool to quantify three statins in oral solid dosage forms.

A method based on micellar liquid chromatography has been developed to determine rosuvastatin, lovastatin and simvastatin in oral solid dosage forms. Samples were solved in mobile phase up to the target concentration, filtered and directly injected. The three statins were resolved in 30 min, using an aqueous solution of 0.10 M sodium dodecyl sulfate - 7.0% 1-butanol, buffered at pH 3 with 0.01 M phosphate salt as mobile phase, running under isocratic mode at 1 mL/min through a C18 column. Detection was at 240 nm. The effect of sodium dodecyl sulfate on elution strength was more important than that of the organic solvent. The procedure was successfully validated by the guidelines of the International Council for Harmonization in terms of: specificity, linearity (r2 > 0.990), calibration range (1.5 - 15 mg/L for rosuvastatin, 0.5-10 mg/L for lovastatin and simvastatin), limit of detection (0.4, 0.2 and 0.15 mg/L for rosuvastatin, lovastatin and simvastatin, respectively), trueness (98.8-101.7%), precision (<2.7%), carry-over effect, robustness, and stability. Values were inside the acceptance criteria of the Methods, Method Verification and Validation, Food and Drug Administration-Office of Regulatory Affairs, thus ensuring the reliability of the results. The main feature was the low proportion of organic solvent used, thus making the procedure sustainable and green. Besides, it was easy-to-conduct and with high sample-throughput, and then useful for routine analysis in pharmaceutical quality control. Finally, it was applied to commercial pharmaceutical preparations.

Simvastatin Coadministration Modulates the Electrostatically Driven Incorporation of Doxorubicin into Model Lipid and Cell Membranes.

Understanding the interactions between drugs and lipid membranes is a prerequisite for finding the optimal way to deliver drugs into cells. Coadministration of statins and anticancer agents has been reported to have a positive effect on anticancer therapy. In this study, we elucidate the mechanism by which simvastatin (SIM) improves the efficiency of biological membrane penetration by the chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin (DOX) in neutral and slightly acidic solutions. The incorporation of DOX, SIM, or a combination of them (DOX:SIM) into selected single-component lipid membranes, zwitterionic unsaturated 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC), neutral cholesterol, and negatively charged 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-l-serine (DMPS) was assessed using the Langmuir method. The penetration of neutral lipid monolayers by the codelivery of SIM and DOX was clearly facilitated at pH 5.5, which resembles the pH conditions of the environment of cancer cells. This effect was ascribed to partial neutralization of the DOX positive charge as the result of intermolecular interactions between DOX and SIM. On the other hand, the penetration of the negatively charged DMPS monolayer was most efficient in the case of the positively charged DOX. The efficiency of the drug delivery to the cell membranes was evaluated under in vitro conditions using a panel of cancer-derived cell lines (A172, T98G, and HeLa). MTS and trypan blue exclusion assays were performed, followed by confocal microscopy and spheroid culture tests. Cells were exposed to either free drugs or drugs encapsulated in lipid carriers termed cubosomes. We demonstrated that the viability of cancer cells exposed to DOX was significantly impaired in the presence of SIM, and this phenomenon was greatly magnified when DOX and SIM were coencapsulated in cubosomes. Overall, our results confirmed the utility of the DOX:SIM combination delivery, which enhances the interactions between neutral components of cell membranes and positively charged chemotherapeutic agents.

Estudo do efeito de estatinas e antiplaquetários na evolução do infarto agudo do miocárdio: uma abordagem metabolômica multiplataform / Effect of statins and antiplatelets in the evolution of acute myocardium infarction: a multiplatform metabolomics approach

O infarto agudo do miocárdio (IAM) é a maior causa de mortalidade no mundo. A oclusão coronária determina a necrose completa de cardiomiócitos (células musculares cardíacas) durante as primeiras horas do IAM. Porém, mesmo após a perda de massa de miocárdio viável cessar, a região infartada pode se expandir ou contrair no decorrer das primeiras semanas, afetando o prognóstico dos pacientes. Alguns tratamentos podem auxiliar na recuperação e melhoria do prognóstico desses pacientes, como o uso de estatinas e antiplaquetários, que quando utilizados em conjunto, proporcionam efeitos sinérgicos. O presente estudo investigou e comparou, através da óptica da metabolômica global multiplataforma, tratamentos concomitantes de estatinas (sinvastatina ou rosuvastatina) e antiplaquetários bloqueadores do receptor de ADP (clopidogrel ou ticagrelor), em pacientes que sofreram IAM. Foram coletadas amostras de plasma e urina de cerca 40 pacientes tratados com clopidrogrel e sinvastatina ou ticagrelor e rosuvastatina no Hospital São Paulo em diferentes períodos (basal, 1 mês e 6 meses após IAM). Amostras de plasma (basal e 1 mês) foram analisadas por RPLC-MS nos modos de ionização positivo e negativo, GC-MS e CEMS. Amostras de urina (basal, 1 mês e 6 meses) foram analisadas por RPLC-MS no modo de ionização positivo e HILIC-MS nos modos de ionização positivo e negativo. A abordagem metabolomica global multiplataforma evidenciou alterações no metabolismo de diferentes vias pelos dois tratamentos. Os dois tratamentos proporcionaram um efeito pronunciado no metabolismo de diferentes lipídios, como glicerolipídios, esfingolipídios, glicerofosfolipídios e ácidos graxos, sendo que a combinação rosuvastatina e ticagrelor resultou num efeito mais acentuado. Já o tratamento com clopidogrel e sinvastatina alterou de maneira mais pronunciada o metabolismo de aminoácidos ramificados e de acilcarnitinas de cadeia curta. Observou-se ainda a alteração de possíveis biomarcadores relatados na literatura como associados a problemas cardiovasculares, como hipoxantina, ácido 2-hidroxibutírico, algumas espécies de ceramidas, fosfatidilcolinas e acilcarnitinas de cadeia curta

cute myocardium infarction (AMI) is the main mortality cause in the world. The coronary occlusion determines the complete necrosis of cardiomyocytes (cardiac muscle cells) during the first hours of AMI. However, even after the loss of viable myocardial mass ceases, the infarcted area may still expand or contract during the first weeks after AMI, affecting the patient prognosis. Some treatments may assist patient recovery and improve prognostic, such as statins and antiplatelets which, when combined, provide synergic effects. This study investigated and compared, by untargeted multiplatform metabolomics, simultaneous treatments of statins (simvastatin or rosuvastatin) and ADP receptor antagonist antiplatelets (clopidogrel or ticagrelor) in patients that suffered AMI. Plasma and urine samples from around 40 patients treated with clopidogrel and simvastatin or ticagrelor and rosuvastatin were collected in Hospital Sao Paulo at different time points (basal, 1 month, 6 months after AMI). Plasma samples (basal and 1 month) were analyzed by RPLC-MS in positive and negative ionization modes, GC-MS and CE-MS. Urine samples (basal, 1 month, 6 months) were analyzed by RPLC-MS in positive ionization mode and by HILIC-MS in positive and negative ionization modes. The untargeted multiplatform metabolomics approach has shown that different metabolic pathways have been altered by the two treatments. Both treatments had a profound impact on the metabolism of different lipids, such as glycerolipids, sphingolipids, glycerophospholipids, and fatty acids. However, the combined treatment using rosuvastatin and ticagrelor impacted the most the lipid pathways. On the other hand, clopidogrel and simvastatin treatment affected more intensily the branched chain amino acids and short chain acylcarnitines metabolisms. Reported biomarkers in the literature related to cardiovascular diseases were also observed in this study, such as hypoxanthine, 2-hydroxybutyric acid, some species of ceramides, phosphatidylcholines and short chain acylcarnitines

Electrochemical Oxidation of Different Therapeutic Classes of Pharmaceuticals Using Graphite-PVC Composite Electrode.

This study reports electrochemical treatment of different therapeutic classes of pharmaceuticals (caffeine, prazosin, enalapril, carbamazepine, nifedipine, levonorgestrel, and simvastatin) in a mixture. The electrochemical process was investigated using graphite-PVC anode at different applied voltages (3, 5, and 12 V), initial concentrations of studied pharmaceuticals in aqueous solution (5 and 10 mg/L), and concentrations of sodium chloride (1 and 2 g/L). The % removal of pharmaceuticals increased with the applied voltage, and was found higher than 98% after 50 min of electrolysis at 5 V. Energy consumption ranged between 0.760 and 3.300 Wh/mg using 12 V being the highest value compared to 3 and 5 V. The formation of chlorinated by-products from four selected pharmaceuticals, simvastatin (C11H13Cl3O5, and C10H12Cl4O3), prazosin (C13H12Cl3N5O3 and C10H11Cl4N2O2), carbamazepine and caffeine (C15H11N2O2Cl and C8H9N4O2Cl) was identified and elucidated using liquid chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOF/MS).

An Electrochemical Strategy for the Simultaneous Detection of Doxorubicin and Simvastatin for Their Potential Use in the Treatment of Cancer.

The aim of this study was to develop a disposable, simple, fast, and sensitive sensor for the simultaneous electrochemical detection of doxorubicin (DOX) and simvastatin (SMV), which could be used in preclinical studies for the development of new pharmaceutical formulations for drug delivery. Firstly, the electrochemical behavior of each molecule was analyzed regarding the influence of electrode material, electrolyte solution, and scan rate. After this, the proper electrode material, electrolyte solution, and scan rate for both active substances were chosen, and a linear sweep voltammetry procedure was optimized for simultaneous detection. Two chronoamperometry procedures were tested, one for the detection of DOX in the presence of SMV, and the other one for the detection of DOX and SMV together. Finally, calibration curves for DOX and SMV in the presence of each other were obtained using both electrochemical methods and the results were compared. The use of amperometry allowed for a better limit of detection (DOX: 0.1 µg/mL; SMV: 0.7 µg/mL) than the one obtained in voltammetry (1.5 µg/mL for both drugs). The limits of quantification using amperometry were 0.5 µg/mL for DOX (dynamic range: 0.5-65 µg/mL) and 2 µg/mL for SMV (dynamic range: 2-65 µg/mL), while using voltammetry 1 µg/mL was obtained for DOX (dynamic range: 1-100 µg/mL) and 5 µg/mL for SMV (dynamic range: 5-100 µg/mL). This detection strategy represents a promising tool for the analysis of new pharmaceutical formulations for targeted drug delivery containing both drugs, whose association was proven to bring benefits in the treatment of cancer.

Development and validation of an HPLC method to be used for simultaneous detection and quantification of different statins after ex vivo skin diffusion studies.

A novel high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed and validated to simultaneously analyse all statins currently available globally (atorvastatin, fluvastatin, lovastatin, mevastatin, pitavastatin, pravastatin, rosuvastatin, simvastatin). A Venusil XBP C18(2) reverse phase column (150 x 4.6 mm) with a 5 µm particle size was used. The gradient conditions started at 25% acetonitrile, which linearly increased to 90% after 1.0 min, held at 90% until 6.5 min, and lastly, re-equilibrated to starting conditions. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile/water and 0.005 M (0.2%) octane sulphonic acid-Na (pH 3.5). The flow rate was set at 1.0 ml/min with a 10 µl injection volume. The HPLC method indicated linearity (R² =0.9999) within the concentration range of 0.2-206.4 µg/ml. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) values were found to be within the permissible criteria of ≤15% and ≤20%, respectively. Following an appropriate investigation of all the parameters for method validation, it was confirmed that the HPLC method was successfully validated and proven to be accurate to simultaneously quantify statins even in combination with other excipients used during the formulation of nano-emulsions and nano-emulgels.

Sustainable environment-friendly quantitative determination of three anti-hyperlipidemic statin drugs and ezetimibe in binary mixtures by first derivative Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.

FTIR spectrometry is considered a sustainable green analytical chemistry procedure. Its use in quantitative analysis of pharmaceutical compounds in their raw resources and in their dosage forms is growing currently. The current research offers an environment-friendly, speedy, cost-effective, reliable and easy method for the simultaneous estimation of anti-hyperlipidemic drugs. No sample preparation was required except for grinding and mixing with KBr for making pellets used for acquisition of the FT-IR spectra. First-derivative FTIR spectroscopy is used to assess quantitatively atorvastatin (ATR), rosuvastatin (RSV) and simvastatin (SMV) in their binary mixtures with ezetimibe (EZT). For the first mixture, EZT and ATR were determined at 1733.18 cm-1 and 1647.74 cm-1, respectively. In the second mixture, the zero-crossing wave numbers selected for the determination of EZT and RSV were 1733.18 cm-1 and 955.69 cm-1, correspondingly. Whereas, the third mixture was quantified at the wavenumbers of 1520.93 and 3569.68 cm-1 for EZT and SMV, respectively. Validation of the procedure has been performed complying with recommendations of the International Conference of Harmonization (ICH) presenting linearity, accuracy, precision, robustness and selectivity. The linear range for all drugs was 2-30 mg/g. It was found that the LOD was 0.607, 0.311, 0.491 and 0.395 mg/g and the LOQ was found to be 1.839, 0.942, 1.490 and 1.190 mg/g for EZT, ATR, RSV, and SMV, correspondingly. The proposed technique was found to be accurate and precise in terms of percentage error and percentage relative standard deviation among intraday and interday measurements. It was also found selective through comparison of the results of standard drugs with results of binary mixtures and of pharmaceutical tablets. It was found robust through making slight variations in the working conditions and the results obtained remained statistically equivalent. The technique was applied effectively for the estimation of the binary mixtures under study in their tablets. Comparing the found outcomes to those of reference derivative UV spectrophotometric methods gave no significant difference between them. Analytical eco-scale and the scale of Green Analytical Procedure Index (GAPI) are the two scales utilized for evaluation of the greenness of the technique and it was found to be excellent green.

Analysis of quinary therapy targeting multiple cardiovascular diseases using UV spectrophotometry and chemometric tools.

Herein, UV spectrophotometry assisted by multivariate chemometric analysis have been presented for quantitative determination of complex quinary therapy containing atenolol, ramipril, hydrochlorothiazide, simvastatin and aspirin without any prior separation. Such combination is very useful for treating various cardiovascular diseases (CVD) including high blood pressure, hypercholesterolemia in addition to its antiplatelet aggregating activity. Calibration (15 samples) and validation (10 samples) sets were prepared of different concentrations for these drugs via implementing partial factorial experimental design. The zero order UV spectra of these sets were recorded and then subjected for further chemometric analysis. Partial least square (PLS) with/without variable selection procedure i.e. genetic algorithm (GA) were employed to untangle the UV spectral overlapping of these mixtures. The performance of these chemometric techniques were compared in terms of accuracy and predictive abilities using cross-validation and external validation methods. It was found that PLS provides good recoveries with prompt predictive ability albeit GA-PLS exhibited better analytical performance owing to its capability to remove redundant variables i.e. the number of absorbance variables had been reduced to about 19-28%. The developed methods allowed reliable determination of such complex therapy in its laboratory prepared mixtures and pharmaceutical preparation within comparable results to those reported by HPLC method, posing these chemometric methods as valuable and indispensable analytical tools in in-process testing and quality control analysis of many pharmaceutical compounds targeting CVD.

Determination of lovastatin, mevastatin, rosuvastatin and simvastatin with HPLC by means of gradient elution.

A novel HPLC method with UV detection was developed and validated in skin penetration (in vitro) studies to identify and quantify lovastatin, mevastatin, rosuvastatin and simvastatin. A Venusil XBP C18 (2), 150 x 4.6 mm, 5 µm column (Agela Technologies, Newark, DE) was used with gradient elution (start at 45 % acetonitrile and increase linearly to 90 % after 1 min; hold at 90 % until 6 min and then re-equilibrate at start conditions) and the mobile phase consisted of (A) Milli-Q ® water and 0.1% orthophosphoric acid, and (B) HPLC grade acetonitrile. The flow rate was set at 1 ml/min, 240 nm UV detection and an injection volume of 10 µl. Linearity was obtained over a range of 0.50-200.00 µg/ml and correlation coefficients ranging from 0.998-1.000 were obtained. Average recovery ranged from 95.9-100.6 %. The LOD and LOQ values obtained from the slope of a calibration curve and the standard deviation of the response ranged from 0.0138-0.0860 µg/ml and 0.0419-0.2615 µg/ml, respectively, where lovastatin and simvastatin could be detected at a concentration similar to the other statins, but could only be quantified at a higher concentration than the remaining statins. The specificity of the method was proved as accurate and quantification of statins was found, even within the incorporation of other compounds.

Cytotoxicity of new psychoactive substances and other drugs of abuse studied in human HepG2 cells using an adopted high content screening assay.

New psychoactive substances (NPS) are still an emerging issue in clinical and forensic toxicology. Information about their cytotoxic potential is limited or even unavailable before distribution and thus their intake can be of high risk for consumers. The aim of the presented study was to develop a strategy to identify cytotoxic potential of NPS based on a high content screening assay (HCSA) using HepG2 cell line and four fluorescent dyes, namely Hoechst33342, TMRM, CAL-520, and TOTO-3. The HCSA was optimized to work without an automated analyzer by using the model compounds fluvastatin, paracetamol, propranolol, and simvastatin. The following parameters were monitored: stained nuclei as a measure for cell count as well as nuclear size and nuclear intensity (all Hoechst33342), mitochondrial membrane potential (TMRM), cytosolic calcium level (CAL-520), and plasma membrane integrity (TOTO-3). The present study showed strong cytotoxic potential for the NPS 5F-PB-22 and MDAI, moderate effects for MDMA, MDPV, methylone, cathinone, 4-MEC, and mephedrone, and no toxic effects for methamphetamine. To assess the metabolic suitability of HepG2 cells under the chosen conditions, cell culture supernatants were analyzed by liquid chromatography-high resolution-tandem mass spectrometry. Metabolites were merely detected for lipophilic drugs such as 5F-PB-22 and MDPV and in addition with a much lower abundance in comparison to the parent compound but the study only allowed a qualitative look for metabolites and the used liver cell line might not ideal when considering metabolism.

Comparative pharmacokinetics and safety assessment of transdermal berberine and dihydroberberine.

The natural alkaloid berberine has been ascribed numerous health benefits including lipid and cholesterol reduction and improved insulin sensitivity in diabetics. However, oral (PO) administration of berberine is hindered by poor bioavailability and increasing dose often elicits gastro-intestinal side effects. To overcome the caveats associated with oral berberine, we developed transdermal (TD) formulations of berberine (BBR) and the berberine precursor dihydroberberine (DHB). These formulations were compared to oral BBR using pharmacokinetics, metabolism, and general safety studies in vivo. To complete this work, a sensitive quantitative LC-MS/MS method was developed and validated according the FDA guidelines for bioanalytical methods to simultaneously measure berberine, simvastatin, and simvastatin hydroxy acid with relative quantification used for the berberine metabolite demethylene berberine glucuronide (DBG). Acute pharmacokinetics in Sprague-Dawley rats demonstrated a statistically relevant ranking for berberine bioavailability based upon AUC0-8 as DHB TD > BBR TD >> BBR PO with similar ranking for the metabolite DBG, indicating that transdermal administration achieves BBR levels well above oral administration. Similarly, chronic administration (14 days) resulted in significantly higher levels of circulating BBR and DBG in DHB TD treated animals. Chronically treated rats were given a single dose of simvastatin with no observed change in the drugs bioavailability compared with control, suggesting the increased presence of BBR had no effect on simvastatin metabolism. This observation was further supported by consistent CYP3A4 expression across all treatment groups. Moreover, no changes in kidney and liver biomarkers, including alanine aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase, were observed between treatment formats, and confirming previous reports that BBR has no effect on HMG-CoA expression. This study supports the safe use of transdermal compositions that improve on the poor bioavailability of oral berberine and have the potential to be more efficacious in the treatment of dyslipidemia or hypercholesterolemia.

Estimation of simvastatin and cetirizine by RP-LC method: Application to freeze and thaw (FT) stability studies.

Sensitive, simple, reliable and rapid HPLC technique for the estimation of simvastatin (SMV) and cetirizine has been designed in this study. The chromatographic conditions were set using Shimadzu LC-10 AT VP pump, with UV detector (SPD-10 AV-VP). System integration was performed with CBM-102 (Bus Module). Partitioning of components was attained with pre-packed C-18 column of Purospher Star (5 µm, 250 x 4.6 mm) at ambient conditions. Injected volume of sample was 10 µl. Mobile phase was composed of 50:50 v/v ratio of Acetonitrile/water (pH 3.0 adjusted with ortho-phosphoric acid) having 2 ml/minutes rate of flow. Compounds were detected in UV region at 225 nm. Percent Recovery of simvastatin was observed in the range of 98-102%. All results were found in accept table range of specification. The projected method is consistent, specific, precise, and rapid, that can be employed to quantitate the SMV along with cetirizine HCl. It was estimated by 3 successive cycles of freeze and thaw stability. Results of FT samples were found within accept table limits the method was developed and validated in raw materials, bulk formulations and final drug products.

Chemometric-Assisted Spectrophotometric Method for the Simultaneous Quantitative Determination of Ezetimibe and Simvastatin in Their Combined Dosage Forms.

The multivariate method, partial least-squares (PLS), was used as a calibration procedure for the simultaneous UV spectrophotometric determination of ezetimibe and simvastatin in their pharmaceutical forms. The method was developed and satisfactorily validated according to International Conference on Harmonization guidelines with respect to specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, and robustness. In this study, the PLS algorithms are based on the absorption spectra of 25 different mixtures of drugs obtained by a multilevel factorial design. The method was linear in the concentration range of 2-8 µg/mL for ezetimibe and 4-16 µg/mL for simvastatin (r2 > 0.99; n = 7) at wavelengths of 238 and 247 nm, respectively. The LOD and LOQ were 0.28 and 0.93 µg/mL for ezetimibe and 0.16 and 0.53 µg/mL for simvastatin, respectively. Precision and accuracy data, evaluated by RSD, were lower than 2%. The method, which proved to be robust, was performed with a 2n full-factorial design. The validated method is simple and low cost, has a low use of polluting reagents, and is environmental friendly. Therefore, the proposed method was successfully applied for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of ezetimibe and simvastatin in commercial formulations.

Development and Validation of Chemometric Spectrophotometric Methods for Simultaneous Determination of Simvastatin and Nicotinic Acid in Binary Combinations.

BACKGROUND: The development and introduction of combined therapy represent a challenge for analysis due to severe overlapping of their UV spectra in case of spectroscopy or the requirement of a long tedious and high cost separation technique in case of chromatography. Quality control laboratories have to develop and validate suitable analytical procedures in order to assay such multi component preparations. METHODS: New spectrophotometric methods for the simultaneous determination of simvastatin (SIM) and nicotinic acid (NIA) in binary combinations were developed. These methods are based on chemometric treatment of data, the applied chemometric techniques are multivariate methods including classical least squares (CLS), principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS). In these techniques, the concentration data matrix were prepared by using the synthetic mixtures containing SIM and NIA dissolved in ethanol. The absorbance data matrix corresponding to the concentration data matrix was obtained by measuring the absorbance at 12 wavelengths in the range 216 - 240 nm at 2 nm intervals in the zero-order. The spectrophotometric procedures do not require any separation step. The accuracy, precision and the linearity ranges of the methods have been determined and validated by analyzing synthetic mixtures containing the studied drugs. CONCLUSION: Chemometric spectrophotometric methods have been developed in the present study for the simultaneous determination of simvastatin and nicotinic acid in their synthetic binary mixtures and in their mixtures with possible excipients present in tablet dosage form. The validation was performed successfully. The developed methods have been shown to be accurate, linear, precise, and so simple. The developed methods can be used routinely for the determination dosage form.

A Versatile Liquid Chromatographic Method for the Simultaneous Determination of Metformin, Sitagliptin, Simvastatin, and Ezetimibe in Different Dosage Forms.

A new LC method is introduced with the concept of its versatile application to widely used drugs from different pharmacological classes. Metformin hydrochloride (MTF), sitagliptin phosphate (SIT), simvastatin (SIM) and ezetimibe (EZB) were simultaneously determined with a simple reversed-phase LC method in which a SIT-SIM binary mixture, present in a dosage form brand, was considered central for its development. Chromatographic separation was achieved with a mobile phase of acetonitrile and 0.02 M potassium dihydrogen phosphate (pH 5.2) (77 + 23, v/v) flowing through a C18 column (BDS Hypersil, 250 × 4.6 mm, 5 µm) at 1.2 mL/min at ambient temperature. UV detection was programmed to be carried out at 210 nm for EZB, SIT, and MTF, whereas SIM was detected at 240 nm. The method was validated according to International Conference on Harmonization guidelines. Linearity, accuracy, and precision were satisfactory over concentration ranges 4-40 µg/mL for EZB and SIM, 0.5-50 µg/mL for SIT, and 5-500 µg/mL for MTF. Coefficients of determination were >0.99 for the four drugs. LOQs found were 0.01 µg/mL for EZB, 0.02 µg/mL for SIT, 0.2 µg/mL for MTF, and 0.02 µg/mL for SIM. The developed method is simple, rapid, accurate, precise, and suitable for the routine QC analysis of the cited drugs in pharmaceutical products by conventional HPLC systems.

Expanding Transdermal Delivery with Lipid Nanoparticles: A New Drug-in-NLC-in-Adhesive Design.

A monolithic drug-in-NLC-in-adhesive transdermal patch, with a novel design, was developed for codelivery of olanzapine (OL) and simvastatin (SV). Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) and enhancers were used as passive strategies, while the pretreatment of the skin with Dermaroller was tested as an active approach. The formulation was optimized for composition in a quality by design basis, in terms of enhancer and adhesive, with focus on permeation behavior, adhesion properties, and cytotoxicity. Propylene glycol promoted the best permeation rate for both drugs, with enhancement ratios of 8.1 and 12.9 for OL and SV, respectively, relative to the corresponding Combo-NLC patch without enhancer. Molecular dynamics results provided a rationale for these observations. The adhesive type displayed an important role in skin permeation, reinforced by the presence of the enhancer. Finally, Dermaroller pretreatment did not promote a significant improvement in permeation, which highlights the role of the combination of NLC with chemical enhancer in the transdermal patch as the main driving force in the process. It is also observed that NLC are able to reduce cytotoxicity, especially that associated with SV. This work provides a promising in vitro-in silico basis for a future in vivo development.

Development and Validation of an LC-MS-MS Method for the Simultaneous Determination of Simvastatin, Simvastatin Acid and Ezetimibe in Human Plasma and Its Application to Pharmacokinetic Study in the Indian Population.

A simple, selective, sensitive and high-throughput liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of simvastatin (SS), simvastatin acid (SSA, active metabolite of SS) and ezetimibe (EZM) in K2 EDTA containing human plasma, using simvastatin D6, simvastatin acid D3 and ezetimibe D4 as internal standards (ISTDs), respectively. A volume of plasma sample of only 400 µL was processed by the solid phase extraction technique; then 20 µL of processed sample was run on a Phenomenex, Kinetix XB C18, 150 × 4.6 mm, 5 µm column using an isocratic mobile phase consisting of 10 mM ammonium formate buffer (pH 4.0 ± 0.3): acetonitrile (27 : 73, v/v) with a run time of 6.3 min. The precursor and product ions of SSA, EZM and their ISTDs were monitored on a triple quadrupole instrument operated in the negative ionization mode, and SS was monitored in the positive mode. The method was validated over a concentration range of 0.2-80 ng/mL for SS, 0.1-60 ng/mL for SSA and 0.05-15 ng/mL for EZM. The method has been successfully applied in clinical pharmacokinetic study in the Indian population. The Cmax, AUC0-inf and Tmax values obtained in our study were 10.61 ± 5.287, 77.58 ± 29.367 and 1.62 ± 0.436 for EZM; 69.74 ± 45.274, 190.71 ± 107.271 and 1.74 ± 0.480 for SS; and 25.36 ± 23.576, 139.24 ± 131.653 and 3.95 ± 0.671 for SSA, respectively.

[Drug release from electrospun simvastatin/polycaprolactone fibrous membranes].

PURPOSE: To prepare electrospun simvastatin/polycaprolactone(SMV/PCL) membrane scaffolds and to evaluate the release properties of this formulation. METHODS: Electrospun SMV/PCL membrane scaffolds were prepared as the experimental group, and electrospun PCL membrane as the control group. The morphology and characteristics of membrane surface were determined by scanning electron microscopic(SEM) and X-ray diffraction(XRD). The release profile of SMV was determined using an ultraviolet-visible spectrometer. The data were analyzed statistically with SPSS 17.0 software package. RESULTS: SEM and XRD indicated that SMV/PCL nanofibers were successfully electrospun and SMV was encapsulated into the fibers. In vitro drug release studies showed that simultaneous SMV release, being nearly linear with time, was achieved and sustained SMV release was prolonged to 28 days. CONCLUSIONS: Electrospun SMV/PCL nanofiber membranes demonstrate sustained drug release properties, suggesting their potential applicability as prospective scaffolds in periodontal regeneration.

Two smart spectrophotometric methods for the simultaneous estimation of Simvastatin and Ezetimibe in combined dosage form.

Two simple, accurate, precise, sensitive and economic spectrophotometric methods were developed for the simultaneous determination of Simvastatin and Ezetimibe in fixed dose combination products without prior separation. The first method depends on a new chemometrics-assisted ratio spectra derivative method using moving window polynomial least square fitting method (Savitzky-Golay filters). The second method is based on a simple modification for the ratio subtraction method. The suggested methods were validated according to USP guidelines and can be applied for routine quality control testing.

Simultaneous quantitation of aspirin, amlodipine and simvastatin in a fixed dose combination of encapsulated tablet formulation by HPLC-UV method.

A high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC-UV) based simple and specific method for simultaneous quantitative determination of aspirin, amlodipine besylate and simvastatin in a capsule formulation has been developed and validated according to ICH guidelines. Chromatographic separation of the three drugs was carried out by aSpherisorbODS2 reverse phase column (4.6 x 250 mm; 5 µm) using amobile phase, which consisted of 70: 30 (v/v) mixture of acetonitrile and triethylamine phosphate buffer (pH 3; 0.015 M) with final pH adjusted to 2.5 using dilute ortho-phosphoric acid, at a flow rate of 1mL/min. The eluents were detected at UV wavelength of 237 nm and the retention times for aspirin, amlodipine besylate and simvastatin were ~2.7 mins, ~6.1 mins and ~10.5mins, respectively. This method is suitable and specific for the three drugs and was found to be linear (R2>0.995), accurate, specific, reproducible and robust in the concentration range of 375 to 1125mcg/ml for aspirin, 25 to 75mcg/ml for amlodipine besylate and 50 to 150mcg/ml for simvastatin. This simple and convenient method could be easily utilized for the characterization and quantitation of the three drugs in a single formulation for combination therapy of cardiovascular diseases.