Enantiomeric assay of escitalopram S(+)-enantiomer and its "in-process impurities" using two different techniques.

The enantiomeric purity of escitalopram oxalate ESC and its "in-process impurities," namely, ESC-N-oxide, ESC-citadiol, and R(-)-enantiomer were studied in drug substance and products using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-UV (Method I), synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy (SFS) (Method IIA), and first derivative SFS (Method IIB). Method I describes as an isocratic HPLC-UV for the direct resolution and determination of enantiomeric purity of ESC and its "in-process impurities." The proposed method involved the use of αl -acid glycoprotein (AGP) chiral stationary phase. The regression plots revealed good linear relationships of concentration range of 0.25 to 100 and 0.25 to 10 µg mL-1 for ESC and its impurities. The limits of detection and quantifications for ESC were 0.075 and 0.235 µg mL-1 , respectively. Method II involves the significant enhancement of the fluorescence intensities of ESC and its impurities through inclusion complexes formation with hydroxyl propyl-ß-cyclodextrin as a chiral selector in Micliavain buffer. Method IIA describes SFS technique for assay of ESC at 225 nm in presence of its impurities: R(-)-enantiomer, citadiol, and N-oxide at ∆λ of 100 nm. This method was extended to (Method IIB) to apply first derivative SFS for the simultaneous determination of ESC at 236 nm and its impurities: the R(-)-enantiomer, citadiol, and N-oxide at 308, 275, and 280 nm, respectively. Linearity ranges were found to be 0.01 to 1.0 µg mL-1 for ESC and its impurities with lower detection and quantification limits of 0.033/0.011 and 0.038/0.013 µg mL-1 for SFS and first derivative synchronous fluorescence spectra (FDSFS), respectively. The methods were used to investigate the enantiomeric purity of escitalopram.

Dynamic spectral imaging: improving colposcopy.

PURPOSE: Colposcopy occupies a key role in the prevention of cervical cancer by identifying preinvasive or invasive lesions. However, colposcopy is subjective and is responsible for 52% of screening failures. Dynamic spectral imaging (DSI) is based on the objective, quantitative assessment of the acetowhitening effect. This study compared DSI with colposcopy. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Women referred for colposcopy were examined simultaneously with colposcopy and DSI using a precommercial DySIS model (FPC-03) in an international, multicenter trial. The colposcopy impression and DySIS values were compared with consensus histology reports of biopsies. Subjects were recruited to a training group and subsequently to a test group. Measures were taken to avoid verification bias. RESULTS: The training and test groups comprised 82 and 308 eligible women, respectively. A cutoff value to identify high-grade disease was selected from the results of the training group and data from previous work. Receiver operator curve analysis of the test data showed an area under the curve of 0.844. DySIS detected 62.9% more high-grade cases than colposcopy (57 versus 35, P=0.0001). DySIS exceeded end points approved by the Food and Drug Administration for similar studies, with increments in the true positive rate of 22/308 (7.1%; lower 95% CL, 4.5% versus 2%) and in the false positive rate of 32/308 (10.4%; upper 95% CL, 14.7% versus 15%). CONCLUSIONS: DySIS is more sensitive than colposcopy in detecting high-grade lesions and can provide improved guidance for biopsy. The results are obtained in a user-independent fashion, making it suitable for use by nursing personnel.

Ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for determination of three gliflozins in human plasma by HPLC/DAD.

A novel, highly sensitive ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (UA-DLLME) high performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (HPLC/DAD) method was developed for the determination of empagliflozin, dapagliflozin and canagliflozin in human plasma using methanol as protein precipitating agent/disperser and 1-dodecanol as extracting solvent. The analytes were eluted with an isocratic mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile:aqueous 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid pH 2.5, (40:60, v/v), at a flow rate of 1 mL/min and UV detection at 210 nm. The microextraction conditions were optimized regarding type and volume of extractant, type of disperser, sample pH, extraction time and centrifugation time. Under the optimal conditions, the enrichment factors were 19 for empagliflozin, 27 for dapagliflozin and 50 for canagliflozin. Linearity ranges were 2-2500 ng/mL, 3.5-2500 ng/mL and 1.1-2500 ng/mL for empagliflozin, dapagliflozin and canagliflozin, respectively. The developed method employs very small volumes of organic solvents in sample extraction and allows determination of small concetrations of gliflozins in human plasma.

HPTLC Method for Determination of R, R-Glycopyrronium Bromide and its Related Impurities.

An innovative high-performance thin layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method was designed, optimized and validated for the quantification of R, R-glycopyrronium bromide (GLY) and its related impurities in drug substance and drug product. Separation was performed on HPTLC plates pre-coated with silica gel 60 F254 by dichloromethane:methanol:formic acid (10:0.5:0.5, v/v/v) as a developing system. GLY and its related impurities namely, glycopyrronium impurity G and glycopyrronium impurity J, were separated giving compact well-resolved spots with significant retardation factor (Rf) values of 0.17 ± 0.02, 0.34 ± 0.02 and 0.69 ± 0.02, respectively. Quantification was done at 220 nm in the ranges of 0.3-10 and 0.2-4.0 µg/spot with limits of detection and quantification of 0.1, 0.3 and 0.05, 0.2 µg/spot for GLY and its related impurities, respectively. Good accuracy was obtained with mean percentage recovery of 99.48 ± 1.36, 100.04 ± 1.32 and 99.61 ± 0.80 and R2 ≥ 0.9968 for GLY and its impurities, consecutively. Validation parameters were presented according to the International Conference on Harmonization. The method was used to investigate impurity profile of GLY in drug substance and drug product and could be applied in routine analysis of the drug. Comparison between the developed method and the reported method revealed no statistical difference.

A UPLC/DAD method for simultaneous determination of empagliflozin and three related substances in spiked human plasma.

A simple, rapid and sensitive ultrahigh performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the determination of the anti-diabetic drug: empagliflozin (EMPA) and three related substances in spiked human plasma, using dapagliflozin (DAPA) as an internal standard and tetrahydrofuran as a plasma protein precipitating agent. The chromatographic separation was achieved on an Acquity "UPLC® BEH" C18 column (50 mm × 2.1 mm i.d, 1.7 µm particle size), and a mobile phase consisting of aqueous trifluoroacetic acid (0.1%, pH 2.5): acetonitrile (60:40, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. Upon using the UPLC system, the run time could be reduced to less than 1.2 min, and the solvents consumption decreased to 0.36 mL of acetonitrile per run. The response was linear over a concentration range of 50-700 ng/mL and 40-200 ng/mL (r2 = 0.9994-0.9999) with lower limits of detection and quantification (LOD/LOQ) of 15/50, 11.5/40, 12/40 and 12.5/40 ng/mL for EMPA and the three related substances, respectively. Good accuracy was obtained with mean percentage recoveries ≥ 96.97% for the studied compounds. The method was validated according to the ICH guidelines and was found suitable for routine analysis of EMPA and its related substances in human plasma.

Spectrophotometric and spectrodensitometric determination of paracetamol and drotaverine HCl in combination.

Thin-layer chromatography, first derivative, ratio spectra derivative spectrophotometry and Vierordt's method have been developed for the simultaneous determination of paracetamol and drotaverine HCl. TLC densitometric method depends on the difference in Rf values using ethyl acetate:methanol:ammonia (100:1:5 v/v/v) as a mobile phase. The spots of the two drugs were scanned at 249 and 308 nm over concentration ranges of 60-1200 microg/ml and 20-400 microg/ml with mean percentage recovery 100.11%+/-1.91 and 100.15%+/-1.87, respectively. The first derivative spectrophotometric method deals with the measurements at zero-crossing points 259 and 325 nm with mean percentage recovery 99.25%+/-1.08 and 99.45%+/-1.14, respectively. The ratio spectra first derivative technique was used at 246 and 305 nm with mean percentage recovery 99.75%+/-1.93 and 99.08%+/-1.22, respectively. Beer's law for first derivative and ratio spectra derivative methods was obeyed in the concentration range 0.8-12.8 and 0.4-6.4 microg/ml of paracetamol and drotaverine HCl, respectively. Vierordt's method was applied to over come the overlapping of paracetamol and drotaverine HCl in zero-order spectra in concentration range 2-26 and 2-40 microg/ml respectively. The suggested methods were successfully applied for the analysis of the two drugs in laboratory prepared mixtures and their pharmaceutical formulation. The validity of the methods was assessed by applying the standard addition technique. The obtained results were statistically agreed with those obtained by the reported method.

A comparative study on various spectrometries with thin layer chromatography for simultaneous analysis of drotaverine and nifuroxazide in capsules.

Three spectrophotometric methods including Vierordt's method, derivative, ratio spectra derivative, and thin layer chromatography (TLC)-UV densitometric method were developed for simultaneous determination of drotaverine HCl (DRT) and nifuroxazide (NIF) in presence of its impurity, 4-hydroxybenzohydrazide (4-HBH). In Vierordt's method, (E(1 cm)(1%)) values were calculated at 227 and 368 nm in the zero-order spectra of DRT and NIF. By derivative spectrophotometry, the zero-crossing method, drotaverine HCl was determined using the second derivative at 245 nm and the third derivative at 238 nm, while nifuroxazide was determined using the first derivative at 399 nm and the second derivative at 411 nm. The ratio spectra derivative spectrophotometry is based on the measure of the amplitude at 459 nm for DRT and at 416 nm for NIF in the first derivative of the ratio spectra. Calibration graphs of the three spectrophotometric methods were plotted in the range 1-10 microg/ml of DRT and 2-20 microg/ml of NIF. TLC-UV densitometric method was achieved on silica gel plates using ethyl acetate : methanol : ammonia 33% (10 : 1 : 0.1 v/v/v) as the mobile phase. The Rf values were 0.74, 0.50, 0.30+/-0.01 for DRT, NIF and 4-HBH, respectively. On the fluorescent plates, the spots were located by fluorescence quenching and the densitometrical area were measured at 308 and 287 nm with linear range 0.2-4 microg/spot and 0.6-12 microg/spot for DRT and NIF, respectively. The proposed methods have been successfully applied to the commercial pharmaceutical formulation without any interference of excipients. Mean recoveries, relative standard deviations and the results of the proposed methods were compared with those obtained by applying the alternate methods.

Validated Densitometric TLC-Method for the Simultaneous Analysis of (R)- and (S)-Citalopram and its Related Substances Using Macrocyclic Antibiotic as a Chiral Selector: Application to the Determination of Enantiomeric Purity of Escitalopram.

A novel economic procedure for the simultaneous stereospecific separation and analysis of (R)- and (S)-citalopram and its related substances or impurities has been developed and validated. Chromatography was performed on silica gel 60 F254 plates with acetonitrile: methanol: water (15:2.5:2.5: v/v/v) as a mobile phase containing 1.5 mM norvancomycin or 2.5 mM vancomycin as a selector at ambient temperature. (R)- and (S)-citalopram enantiomers in presence of its related substances; citalopram citadiol and citalopram N-oxide were well separated with significant Rf values of 0.33 ± 0.02, 0.85 ± 0.02, 0.45 ± 0.02 and 0.22 ± 0.02, respectively. The spots were detected with either iodine vapor, or by use of a UV lamp followed by densitometric measurement at 239 nm. All variables affecting the resolution, such as concentration of chiral selectors, mobile phase system at different temperatures and pH-values were investigated and the conditions were optimized. Calibration plots for analysis of (R)- and (S)-enantiomers were linear in the range of 0.2-16.8 µg/10 µl (R≥0.9994, n=6) with acceptable precision (%RSD<2.0) and accuracy (99.70 ± 0.85% and 99.51 ± 0.61% for (S)-citalopram and escitalopram, respectively). The limit of detection and quantification were 0.08 µg/10 µl and 0.25 µg/10 µl, respectively, for (R)- and (S)-citalopram. The proposed method is simple, selective, and robust and can be applied for quantitative determination of enantiomeric purity of (R)- and (S)-citalopram (escitalopram) as well as the related impurities in drug substances and pharmaceutical preparations. The method can be useful to investigate adulteration of pure isomer with the cheep racemic form.