Spectrofluorometric determination of clonazepam in dosage forms: Application to content uniformity testing and human plasma

The present paper describes a developed and validated simple, highly sensitive and cost‐effective spectrofluorometric method for determination of clonazepam (CNP). The proposed method depends on forming a highly fluorescent product through the reduction of CNP with Zn/HCl. The produced fluorophore exhibits a strong fluorescence at λ_em 350 nm after excitation at λ_ex 250 nm. The use of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) greatly enhanced the fluorescence intensity of the produced fluorophore to the extent of about 100%. Calibration curve showed good linear regression (r ² > 0.9998) within test ranges of 20–400 ng ml^?1 with a lower detection limit of 0.67 ng ml^?1 and lower quantification limit of 2.22 ng ml^?1 upon using CMC. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of CNP in its pharmaceutical formulations and the results were in agreement with those obtained using a reference method. Furthermore, the content uniformity testing of the tablets was also performed. The application of the proposed method was extended to determine CNP in spiked human plasma sample as a preliminary investigation and the results were satisfactory.     

Validated spectrofluorimetric method for determination of two phosphodiesterase inhibitors tadalafil and vardenafil in pharmaceutical preparations and spiked human plasma

A valid, sensitive and rapid spectrofluorimetric method has been developed and validated for determination of both tadalafil (TAD) and vardenafil (VAR) either in their pure form, in their tablet dosage forms or spiked in human plasma. This method is based on measurement of the native fluorescence of both drugs in acetonitrile at λ_em 330 and 470 nm after excitation at 280 and 275 nm for tadalafil and vardenafil, respectively. Linear relationships were obtained over the concentration range 4–40 and 10–250 ng/mL with a minimum detection of 1 and 3 ng/mL for tadalafil and vardenafil, respectively. Various experimental parameters affecting the fluorescence intensity were carefully studied and optimized. The developed method was applied successfully for the determination of tadalafil and vardenafil in bulk drugs and tablet dosage forms. Moreover, the high sensitivity of the proposed method permitted their determination in spiked human plasma. The developed method was validated in terms of specificity, linearity, lower limit of quantification (LOQ), lower limit of detection (LOD), precision and accuracy. The mean recoveries of the analytes in pharmaceutical preparations were in agreement with those obtained from the comparison methods, as revealed by statistical analysis of the obtained results using Student's t‐test and the variance ratio F‐test. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development and validation of a spectrofluorimetric method for the quantification of ceftriaxone in pharmaceutical formulations and plasma

We describe the development and validation of a new, simple, sensitive and cost‐effective method for the determination of ceftriaxone in commercial formulations and spiked human plasma. The method proposes the conversion of ceftriaxone into a fluorescent product by reacting with ortho‐phthalaldehyde (OPA) in the presence of sulfite at room temperature. The reaction medium is buffered to pH 10 using borate buffer. The derivatized reaction product is highly fluorescent and exhibits maximum fluorescence intensity at λ_em = 386 nm after excitation at λ_ex = 324 nm. The experimental parameters affecting progress of the derivatization reaction were carefully studied and optimized. Under optimum experimental conditions, the method has an excellent correlation coefficient of 0.9984 with a broad linear range of 0.4?20 µg/mL. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were found to be 1.30 × 10^?3 and 3.90 × 10^?3 µg/mL, respectively. The interference effects of common excipients on the quantification of drug were investigated and no interference effect was observed. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the determination of ceftriaxone in pharmaceutical formulations and spiked human plasma samples. The method has been validated statistically through percent recovery studies using standard addition and by comparison with a reference HPLC method. The developed method exhibits excellent inter‐ and intraday precision. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Validated GC/MS method for the simultaneous determination of clozapine and norclozapine in human plasma. Application in psychiatric patients under clozapine treatment

A sensitive and specific GC/MS method for the determination of clozapine (CLZ) and its major metabolite norclozapine (NCLZ), in plasma has been developed, optimized and validated. Specimen preparation includes solid-phase extraction of both analytes using Bond-Elut Certify cartridge and further derivatization with TFAA. Clozapine-d8 was used as internal standard for the determination of CLZ and NCLZ. Limits of detection were 0.45 ng/mL for CLZ and 1.59 ng/mL for NCLZ, while limits of quantification were 1.37 ng/mL for CLZ and 4.8 ng/mL for NCLZ, as calculated by the calibration curves. The calibration curves were linear up to 600 ng/mL for CLZ and NCLZ. Absolute recovery ranged from 82.22% to 95.35% for both analytes. Intra- and interday accuracy was less than 7.13% and −12.52%, respectively, while intra- and interday precision was between 9.47% and 12.07%, respectively, for CLZ and NCLZ. The method covers all therapeutic range and proved suitable for the determination of CLZ and NCLZ not only in psychiatric patients but also in forensic cases with clozapine implication.     

Spectrofluorimetric determination of aliskiren in dosage forms and urine

A new, simple and sensitive spectrofluorimetric method has been developed for the determination of aliskiren (ALS) in dosage forms and human urine. The method is based on the reaction between ALS and fluorescamine in borate buffer solution, pH 9, to give a highly fluorescent derivative which is measured at 482 nm after excitation at 382 nm. The factors affecting the reaction were carefully studied. The fluorescence intensity concentration plots were rectilinear over the range 140–1400 ng/mL with a limit of detection 13.47 ng/mL and limit of quantitation 40.81 ng/mL. The developed method was successfully applied to the analysis of the drug in tablets and human urine; the average recoveries (n = 6) were 99.88 ± 0.38% and 99.57 ± 0.44%, respectively. The analytical performance of the method was fully validated and the results were satisfactory. The stability of the drug was studied by subjecting it to acidic, basic, oxidative and thermal degradation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spectrofluorimetric determination of oseltamivir phosphate through derivatization with o‐phthalaldehyde. Application to pharmaceutical preparations with a preliminary study on spiked plasma samples

A simple and sensitive spectrofluorimetric method has been developed and validated for the determination of oseltamivir phosphate (OST) in pharmaceutical preparations. The method is based on the reaction between oseltamivir phosphate and o‐phthalaldehyde in presence of 2‐mercapto‐ethanol in borate buffer, pH 10.8, to give a highly fluorescent product measured at 450 nm after excitation at 336 nm. The different experimental parameters affecting the development and stability of the reaction product were studied and optimized. The fluorescence intensity–concentration plot is rectilinear over the range 0.05–1.0 µg/mL, with a lower detection limit of 5 ng/mL and limit of quantitation of 16 ng/mL. The developed method was successfully applied to the analysis of the drug in its commercial capsules and suspension, mean recoveries of OST were 99.97 ± 1.67% and 100.17 ± 1.18%, respectively (n = 3). Statistical comparison of the results obtained by the proposed and comparison method revealed no significant difference in the performance of the two methods regarding accuracy and precision. The proposed method was further extended to in vitro determination of the studied drug in spiked human plasma as a preliminary investigation; the mean recovery (n = 3) was 98.68 ± 5.8%. A reaction pathway was postulated. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A novel spectrofluorimetric method for determination of imatinib in pure,pharmaceutical preparation,human plasma,and human urine

The following paper represents a simple, highly sensitive, responsive validated and developed spectrofluorimetric method for estimation of imatinib (IMB) in its pure, commercial preparation, human urine and human blood plasma. The calibration curve was in the range 4–900 ng ml^?1 for pure form and urine and 8–900 ng ml^?1 for plasma in a medium contains carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and acetate buffer (pH 5) with excitation wavelength (λ_ex) 230 nm and emission wavelength (λ_em) 307 nm. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.37 ng ml^?1 for the pure form, 0.64 ng ml^?1 for human urine, and 0.70 ng ml^?1 for human plasma, while the limit of quantitation (LOQ) was 1.2 for pure form, 1.91 for urine and 2.1 for plasma. The suggested method was successfully applied for evaluation of IMB in tablets within 99% mean percentage recovery. The excipients that are usually used as additives in pharmaceutical dosage form did not interfere with the suggested method. The method was efficiently used for estimation of IMB in human urine and human plasma. The effect of some cations that might be present in urine and plasma was also studied. The method was also focused on human volunteers and in vitro drug release.     

Simultaneous estimation of levodopa and carbidopa by RP‐HPLC using a fluorescence detector: its application to a pharmaceutical dosage form

A reverse‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatographic (RP‐HPLC) method was developed and validated for the simultaneous estimation of levodopa and carbidopa in bulk and pharmaceutical formulations. Chromatographic separation was achieved by using a C₁₈ reverse‐phase column and a mixture of an aqueous phase (10 mM potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer, pH 4.0) and methanol (90:10 v/v) as the mobile phase. Quantitative analysis of levodopa and carbidopa was performed using a fluorescence detector at an excitation wavelength of 280 nm and an emission wavelength of 310 nm. The method was linear between 5 and 500 ng/mL for both levodopa and carbidopa. The detection limits for levodopa and carbidopa were 0.30 and 0.60 ng/mL, respectively, whereas the quantitation limit was 0.80 ng/mL for levodopa and 1.2 ng/mL for carbidopa. The method demonstrated good and consistent recoveries (99.63–100.80% for levodopa and 98.97–100.94% for carbidopa) with low interday and intraday relative standard deviation. The validated method was successfully applied to quantify levodopa and carbidopa simultaneously in a pharmaceutical formulation. The method was found to be precise, sensitive and accurate for the simultaneous determination levodopa and carbidopa in bulk and pharmaceutical formulations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Validated sensitive spectrofluorimetric method for determination of antihistaminic drug azelastine HCl in pure form and in pharmaceutical dosage forms: application to stability study

A highly sensitive, simple and rapid spectrofluorimetric method was developed for the determination of azelastine HCl (AZL) in either its pure state or pharmaceutical dosage form. The proposed method was based on measuring the native fluorescence of the studied drug in 0.2 M H₂SO₄ at λ_em = 364 nm after excitation at λ_ex = 275 nm. Different experimental parameters were studied and optimized carefully to obtain the highest fluorescence intensity. The proposed method showed a linear dependence of the fluorescence intensity on drug concentration over a concentration range of 10–250 ng/mL, with a limit of detection of 1.52 ng/mL and limit of quantitation of 4.61 ng/mL. Moreover, the method was successfully applied to pharmaceutical preparations, with percent recovery values (± SD) of 99.96 (± 0.4) and 100.1 (± 0.52) for nasal spray and eye drops, respectively. The results were in good agreement with those obtained by the comparison method, as revealed by Student's t‐test and the variance ratio F‐test. The method was extended to study the stability of AZL under stress conditions, where the drug was exposed to neutral, acidic, alkaline, oxidative and photolytic degradation according to International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pharmacokinetic evaluation of daclatasvir and ledipasvir in healthy volunteers using a validated highly sensitive spectrofluorimetric method

A simple, highly sensitive and selective spectrofluorimetric method has been developed and fully validated for the determination of daclatasvir (DAC) and ledipasvir (LED) in tablets and human plasma. The method is based on measurement of the native fluorescence in methanol at λ_em 384 nm after excitation at λ_ex 318 nm for DAC and in acetonitrile at λ_em 402 nm after excitation at λ_ex 340 nm for LED. The fluorescence intensity (FI) concentration plot was rectilinear over the ranges 1.2–12, 0.1–18 ng ml^?1 and 9–90, 1–100 ng ml^?1 with a good correlation of r = 0.9994 to r = 0.9997 in standard solution and human plasma for DAC and LED, respectively. The extraction of analytes from plasma was performed using methanol and acetonitrile as a precipitating agent with lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of 0.1 and 1.0 ng ml^?1 for DAC and LED; respectively. The proposed method was validated according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines and successfully applied for estimating the pharmacokinetic parameters of DAC and LED following oral administrations of their tablets.     

A validated silver‐nanoparticle‐enhanced chemiluminescence method for the determination of citalopram in pharmaceutical preparations and human plasma

A simple and sensitive chemiluminescence (CL) method was developed for the determination of citalopram in pharmaceutical preparations and human plasma. The method is based on the enhancement of the weak CL signal of the luminol–H₂O₂ system. It was found that the CL signal arising from the reaction between alkaline luminol and H₂O₂ was greatly increased by the addition of silver nanoparticles in the presence of citalopram. Prepared silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were characterized by UV–visible spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Various experimental parameters affecting CL intensity were studied and optimized for the determination of citalopram. Under optimized experimental conditions, CL intensity was found to be proportional to the concentration of citalopram in the range 40–2500 ng/mL, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9997. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) of the devised method were 3.78 and 12.62 ng/mL, respectively. Furthermore, the developed method was found to have excellent reproducibility with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 3.65% (n = 7). Potential interference by common excipients was also studied. The method was validated statistically using recovery studies and was successfully applied to the determination of citalopram in the pure form, in pharmaceutical preparations and in spiked human plasma samples. Percentage recoveries were found to range from 97.71 to 101.99% for the pure form, from 97.84 to 102.78% for pharmaceutical preparations and from 95.65 to 100.35% for spiked human plasma. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of dipyridamole using TCPO–H2O2 chemiluminescence in the presence of silver nanoparticles

The method is based on the fact that dipyridamole can enhance the chemiluminescence (CL) emission from the redox reaction of bis (2,4,6‐tricholorophenyl) oxalate (TCPO) with H₂O₂ in the presence of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The CL reaction mechanism was discussed. The effect of concentrations of TCPO, H₂O₂, AgNPs and pH value on the CL reaction were investigated. Under the optimum conditions, the linear dynamic range was 1.0–1000 × 10^?9 g/mL and the detection limit (3σ) was 9 × 10^?10 g/mL. The relative standard deviation (RSD) was 4.8% for 1.0 × 10^?9 g/mL dipyridamole (n = 7). The proposed method has been successfully applied to the determination of dipyridamole tablets and the recovery was 99–103%. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Utility of eosin Y as a complexing reagent for the determination of citalopram hydrobromide in commercial dosage forms by fluorescence spectrophotometry

An accurate, selective and sensitive spectrofluorimetric method was developed for the determination of citalopram hydrobromide in commercial dosage forms. The method was based on the formation of a fluorescent ion‐pair complex between citalopram hydrobromide and eosin Y in the presence of a disodium hydrogen phosphate/citric acid buffer solution of pH 3.4 that was extractable in dichloromethane. The extracted complex showed fluorescence intensity at λ_em = 554 nm after excitation at 259 nm. The calibration curve was linear over at concentrations of 2.0–26.0 µg/mL. Under optimized experimental conditions, the proposed method was validated as per ICH guidelines. The effect of common excipients used as additives was tested and the tolerance limit calculated. The limit of detection for the proposed method was 0.121 μg/mL. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of citalopram hydrobromide in commercial dosage forms. The results were compared with the reference RP‐HPLC method. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spectrofluorimetric analysis of gemifloxacin mesylate in pharmaceutical formulations

A simple, rapid and highly sensitive spectrofluorimetric method was developed for determination of gemifloxacin mesylate (GFX) in tablets. The method is based on measuring the native fluorescence of GFX in isopropanol at 400 nm after excitation at 272 nm. The fluorescence–concentration plot was rectilinear over the range of 0.01–0.50 µg/mL with a lower detection limit of 1.19 ng/mL and quantification limit of 3.6 ng/mL. The method was fully validated and successfully applied to the determination of GFX tablets with an average percentage recovery of 99.65 ± 0.532. The method was extended to the stability study of GFX. The drug was exposed to acidic, alkaline, oxidative and photolytic degradation according to International Conference on Harmonization guidelines. The rate of GFX degradation was found at its highest in acidic conditions, and in its lowest in the neutral one. However, it was stable under dry heat and photolytic degradation conditions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of sulpiride in pharmaceutical preparations and human plasma through derivatization with 2‐cyanoacetamide

A sensitive and accurate spectrofluorimetric method has been developed for the determination of sulpiride in pharmaceutical preparations and human plasma. The developed method is based on the derivatization reaction of 2‐cyanoacetamide with sulpiride in 30% ammonical solution. The fluorescent derivatized reaction product exhibited maximum fluorescence intensity at 379 nm after excitation at 330 nm. The optimum conditions for derivatization reactions were studied and the fluorescence intensity versus concentration plot was found to be linear over the concentration range 0.2–20.0 µg/mL with a correlation coefficient of 0.9985. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were found to be 0.82 and 2.73 ng/mL, respectively. The proposed method was validated according to ICH guidelines. The effects of common excipients and co‐administered drugs were also studied. The accuracy of the method was checked using the standard addition method and percent recoveries were found to be in the range of 99.00–101.25% for pharmaceutical preparations and 97.00–97.80% for spiked human plasma. The method was successfully applied to commercial formulations and the results obtained for the proposed method were compared with a high‐performance liquid chromatography reference method and statistically evaluated using the Student's t‐test for accuracy and the variance ratio F‐test for precision. A reaction pathway was also proposed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantitative determination of clonazepam in plasma by gas chromatography-negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry

A gas chromatographic-negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometric (GC-NCI-MS) method for the quantitative analysis of clonazepam in human plasma is described. Clonazepam (M_r = 315) was derivatized by N,O-bis-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide with 1% trimethylchlorosilane. A pre-conditioning procedure involving injection of a silyl-8 and ethyl acetate extraction solution from plasma reduces the interaction between clonazepam-TMS and the analytical system. The routine limit of quantification was set to be 0.25 ng/ml with an injection volume of 2 μl and a sample volume of 1 ml. The signal-to-noise ratio was greater than five. The detection limit for clonazepam can reach 0.1 ng/ml. The isotope clonazepam-d₅ was used as the internal standard.     

Highly sensitive electrochemiluminescence determination of etamsylate using a low‐cost electrochemical flow‐through cell based on a tris(2, 2'‐bipyridyl)ruthenium(II)–Nafion‐modified carbon paste electrode

A simple and sensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) method for the determination of etamsylate has been developed by coupling an electrochemical flow‐through cell with a tris(2,2'‐bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) (Ru(bpy)₃²⁺)–Nafion‐modified carbon electrode. It is based on the oxidized Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ on the electrode surface reacting with etamsylate and producing an excellent ECL signal. Under optimized experimental conditions, the proposed method allows the measurement of etamsylate over the range of 8–1000 ng/mL with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.9997 (n = 7) and a limit of detection of 1.57 ng/mL (3σ), the relative standard deviation (RSD) for 1000 ng/mL etamsylate (n = 7) is 0.96%. The immobilized Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ carbon paste electrode shows good electrochemical and photochemical stability. This method is rapid, simple, sensitive and has good reproducibility. It has been successfully applied to the determination of the studied etamsylate in pharmaceutical preparations with satisfactory results. The possible ECL reaction mechanism has also been discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spectrofluorimetric determination of nomifensine in human plasma and urine by derivatization with fluorescamine

A sensitive, simple and rapid spectrofluorimetric method was developed for the determination of nomifensine in human plasma and urine. The present method was based on the derivatization by fluorescamine in phosphate buffer at pH 4.0 to produce a highly fluorescent product which was measured at 488 nm (excitation at 339 nm). The method was validated according to the ICH guidelines with respect to linearity, limit of detection, limit of quantification, accuracy, precision, recovery and robustness. The assay was linear over the concentration ranges 100–2,000 and 50–2,000 ng/mL for plasma and urine, respectively. The limits of detection were calculated to be 13.9 and 7.5 ng/mL for plasma and urine, respectively. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of the drug in human plasma and urine. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A validated HPLC method for the determination of dimethyl‐4,4′‐dimethoxy‐5,6,5′,6′‐dimethylene dioxybiphenyl‐2,2′‐dicarboxylate (DDB) with fluorescence detection in raw material and pill form: application to an in vitro dissolution test and a content uniformity test

A simple, sensitive and rapid HPLC method with fluorescence detection for the determination of dimethyl‐4,4′‐dimethoxy‐5,6,5′,6′‐dimethylene dioxybiphenyl‐2,2′‐dicarboxylate (DDB) in the raw material and pill form was developed. Liquid chromatography was performed on a C₁₈ column (250 × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 µm particle size), the mobile phase consisted of methanol and 0.05 M sodium dihydrogen phosphate buffer (80 : 20, v/v), and the apparent pH of the mobile phase was adjusted to 3. The fluorescence detector was operated at excitation/emission wavelengths of 275/400 nm. The proposed method allows the determination of DDB within concentration range 0.1–1.5 µg/mL with a limit of detection of 0.032 µg/mL, a limit of quantification of 0.097 µg/mL and a correlation coefficient of 0.9997. The proposed method has been successfully applied for the analysis of DDB in its pills with a percentage recovery of 98.45 ± 0.32. The method was fully validated according to ICH guidelines. Moreover, the high sensitivity of the method permits its use in an in vitro dissolution test for DDB under simulated intestinal conditions. In addition, the proposed method was extended to a content uniformity test according to USP guidelines. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Liquid chromatographic method for the determination of ticlopidine in human plasma

A simple high-performance liquid chromatographic method for determination of ticlopidine in human plasma using ultra violet detection was developed. The separation of the investigated compound and internal standard was achieved on a C₁₈ BD column with a 0.01 M potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer (pH 4)–acetonitrile–methanol (20:40:40, v/v) mobile phase. The detection was performed at 215 nm. The compounds were isolated from plasma by Bond Elut C₁₈ solid-phase extraction, the mean absolute recovery was 84.9%. The limit of quantitation was 10 ng ml⁻¹, the limit of detection was 5 ng ml⁻¹. The bioanalytical method was validated with respect to linearity, within- and between-day accuracy and precision, system suitability and stability. All validated parameters were found to be within the internationally required limits. The developed analytical method for ticlopidine was found to be suitable for application in pharmacokinetic studies and human drug monitoring.