Determination of combined p-hydroxy benzoic acid preservatives in a liquid pharmaceutical formulation by HPLC

Simple Portable Voltammetric Sensor Using Anodized Screen-Printed Graphene Electrode for the Quantitative Analysis of p-Hydroxybenzoic Acid in Cosmetics

Screen-printed graphene electrodes (SPGEs) have become a potential option in electrochemical applications because of their outstanding properties and disposable approach to miniaturize the electrodes for onsite analysis. Herein, the detection of para-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA) in cosmetics using the anodized SPGE has been pioneered and reported. The simple anodization of the SPGE surface was operated by anodic pretreatment at a constant potential on SPGE. The surface morphologies and electrochemical behaviors of anodized SPGEs in different anodization electrolytes were examined. Using anodized SPGE in a phosphate-buffered solution, a nontoxic solution, the sensitivity of PHBA detection was significantly improved compared with pristine SPGE owing to the increase of the polar oxygen-containing functional group during the anodization. The anodized SPGE could detect a PHBA down to 0.073 μmol/L. Finally, the developed anodized SPGE presented high ability and feasibility for PHBA detection in cosmetics. Furthermore, a facile electrode preparation step with a nontoxic solution can present high reproducibility and compatibility with a portable potentiostat for onsite PHBA detection during manufacturing.

Combination of large volume sample stacking with polarity switching and cyclodextrin electrokinetic chromatography (LVSS-PS-CDEKC) for the determination of selected preservatives in pharmaceuticals

In this study, a large volume sample stacking (LVSS) with polarity switching (PS) and cyclodextrin electrokinetic chromatography (CDEKC) method has been developed for the simultaneous separation and determination of 8 preservatives: methylparaben (MP), ethylparaben (EP), propylparaben (PP), butylparaben (BP), isobutylparaben (IBP), sorbic acid (SA), benzoic acid (BA), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA) in pharmaceuticals. The effects of some typical parameters such as sample volume, applied voltage, composition and pH of the running buffer and organic modifier concentration were examined and optimized. Moreover, the impact of type and concentration of cyclodextrin as electrolyte modifiers was also investigated. The detection limits of analytes for the elaborated LVSS-PS-CDEKC method were found to be in 0.8-5 ng mL^-1 range, which were around 500 times lower than normal CDEKC without preconcentration technique. All analytes were completely resolved in less than 11 min in an uncoated fused-silica capillary of 75 μm internal diameter (I.D) x 50 cm length. The electrophoretic separation was performed in a 2 mM α-cyclodextrin and 25 mM tetraborate system (pH = 9.3) with an applied voltage of 25 kV. The established method was validated and confirmed to be applicable for the determination of the preservatives in a quality control of pharmaceuticals.

Experimental and statistical analysis on a nanostructured sensor for determination of p-hydroxybenzoic acid in cosmetics

In this research, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) coupled with experimental design, was used for determination of p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHB) in cosmetics. Optimization of effecting parameters was carried out based on rotatable central composite design (RCCD) and response surface methodology (RSM) at the surface of a nanostructured electrode for achieving the best sensitivity. Sol-gel process was used for synthesize of nickel titanate (NiTiO₃) nanoceramics. The structural and morphological characterization of the nanoparticles was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Then the NiTiO₃ nanopowders were used for surface modification of a carbon paste modified electrode (CPE). Surface characterization of the electrode was accomplished using SEM, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) techniques. Under the optimized conditions, the voltammograms exhibited two linear dynamic ranges of 0.7-80.0 μM and 80.0-1000.0 μM for PHB with the detection limit of 62.0 nM (S/N = 3). Finally the NiTiO₃ nanoceramics modified carbon paste electrode (NiTiO₃/CPE) could be employed for the determination of PHB in real samples with satisfactory results.

Novel Stability-Indicating RP-HPLC Method for the Simultaneous Estimation of Clindamycin Phosphate and Adapalene along with Preservatives in Topical Gel Formulations

A novel stability-indicating RP-HPLC method was developed for the simultaneous estimation of clindamycin phosphate (hydrophilic), adapalene (hydro-phobic), phenoxyethanol, and methylparaben in topical gel formulations. Optimum chromatographic separation among the analytes and stress-induced degradants peaks was achieved on the XBridge C18 (50 × 4.6 mm, 3.5 µm) column using a mobile phase consisting of a variable mixture of pH 2.50 ammonium hydrogen phosphate buffer, acetonitrile, and tetrahydrofuran with gradient elution. Detection was performed at 210 nm for phenoxyethanol, methylparaben, and clindamycin phosphate and 321 nm for adapalene. The method was optimized with a unique diluent selection for the extraction of clindamycin phosphate and adapalene from the gel matrix. The developed method was validated for method precision, specificity, LOD and LOQ, linearity, accuracy, robustness, and solution stability as per ICH guidelines. The proposed method can be employed for the quantification of clindamycin phosphate, adapalene, phenoxyethanol, and methylparaben in commercial topical gel formulations.

A New Validated HPLC Method for the Simultaneous Determination of 2-phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben and Propylparaben in a Pharmaceutical Gel

A novel reversed-phase HPLC method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of 2-phenoxyethanol, methylparaben, ethylparaben and propylparaben preservatives. The method uses a Lichrosorb C8 (150×4.6 mm, 5 µm) column and isocratic elution. The mobile phase consisted of a mixture of acetonitrile, tetrahydrofuran and water (21:13:66, v/v/v), pumped at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. The UV detection was set at 258 nm. The method was validated with respect to accuracy, precision (repeatability and intermediate precision), specificity, linearity and range. All the parameters examined met the current recommendations for bioanalytical method validation. The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of commercially available pharmaceutical gel products for these preservatives. The procedure describes here is simple, selective and reliable for routine quality control analysis and stability tests.

Counterfeit homeopathic medicinal products: syrups. A simple and rapid LC-ESI-MS method to detect preservatives not declared in label

A rapid and simple LC-ESI-MS method for the simultaneous detection and quantitation of six preservatives in homeopathic syrups has been developed. Counterfeit homeopathic syrups are suspected to contain preservatives that are not declared in label. For this reason a method to ascertain the absence of sorbic and benzoic acids, methyl-, ethyl-, propyl- and butyl-parabens, as the most frequently utilised preservatives, has been developed. Analytes were eluted with a linear gradient of acetonitrile-5mM ammonium acetate in 12 min using 2,4-dichlorobenzylalchol as Internal Standard. The HPLC separation was performed on an Eclipse XDB-C18 (2.1 mm x 50 mm-5 microm) column and the ESI-MS detection was performed in negative ion mode. Linearity of the method was studied in the range of 2 pg to 10 ng injected and correlation coefficients r2 > or =0.9992 were obtained. LOD ranged from 0.04 to 0.4 ng mL(-1).

Combining high-performance liquid chromatography with on-line microdialysis sampling for the simultaneous determination of ascorbyl glucoside, kojic acid, and niacinamide in bleaching cosmetics

We have used on-line microdialysis sampling coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography and UV-vis detection to simultaneously determine the contents of ascorbyl glucoside (AA-2G), kojic acid (KA), and niacinamide (VitB(3)) in commercial bleaching cosmetics. Our results indicate that AA-2G, KA, and VitB(3) separated well within 4.5 min on a reverse-phase Hypersil Fluophase PFP column when eluting with 0.020 M phosphate buffer solution in 40% (v/v) methanol at pH 5.5. The calibration curves were linear over the ranges 0.068-304, 0.071-284, and 0.024-488 microg mL(-1) for AA-2G, KA, and VitB(3), respectively, with correlation coefficients for the linear regression analyses falling within the range 0.9982-0.9999. The detection limits for AA-2G, KA, and VitB(3) were 0.01, 0.01, and 0.007 microg mL(-1), respectively. The detection wavelength was robust when the levels of the analytes in the samples were high (0.1-2%). The analytes were all detected using ultraviolet light (254 nm). The compounds diffuse through the membrane more readily when KA and VitB(3) are in their molecular forms and AA-2G is ionized. The recoveries were in the range 92-106% with good reproducibility (R.S.D.=3.9-8.7%). We used this procedure to assay six commercially available bleaching cosmetics; our results confirmed not only the precision of the method but also the claims made on the labels of the cosmetics. This approach provides a very simple means to determine the contents of AA-2G, KA, and VitB(3) in various dosages in bleaching cosmetics.

Assay of artemether, methylparaben and propylparaben in a formulated paediatric antimalarial dry suspension

Two HPLC-UV methods are described for the separate determination of artemether (AM) and the combined preservatives, methylparaben and propylparaben in a pharmaceutical dosage form. These analytes are contained in a dry suspension with a high amount of non-soluble excipients, some of which can interfere with the analysis. This makes their separation and analysis of the actives complex. Moreover, due to the wide difference in concentrations, the three analytes could not be quantitated simultaneously. Artemether was analysed using a reversed-phase Nucleosil C(18) column [5 microm, 125 mm x 4 mm (i.d.)] with a mixture of acetonitrile: potassium phosphate buffer pH 5.0 (0.05 M): water [48:32:10 (v/v/v)] as mobile phase. Due to the low solubility of the hydroxy benzoic acid esters in water, their sodium salts were used in the formulation. Complete separation of these preservatives was achieved on the same type of column as artemether using as eluent acetonitrile: potassium phosphate buffer pH 5.0 (0.05 M) (30:70, v/v). Quantitation was achieved with UV detection at 215 nm for artemether and 254 nm for the parabens, respectively. And in both methods, pump flow rate was 1.0 ml/min, sample injection volume 20 microl, ambient temperature maintained and no prior sample extraction methods were necessary throughout the experiments. Calibration curves were linear at concentration ranges of 4-16 microg/ml, 1-4 microg/ml and 1-10 mg/ml for methylparaben, propylparaben and artemether respectively. The excipient powder interference could be eliminated by diluting the sample and the analytes eluted at relatively short times using these systems. Both methods were further validated in terms of specificity, linearity, precision and accuracy. The procedures prescribed here are simple, selective and can be used for routine quality control and stability indicating tests involving the analysed compounds formulated in complex matrices.

Stability indicating simultaneous determination of domperidone (DP), methylparaben (MP) and propylparaben by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)

A simple, specific and precise high performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of methylparaben (MP), propylparaben (PP), and domperidone (DP) in oral suspension. Isocratic mobile phase consists of 0.5% w/v aqueous ammonium acetate buffer:methanol, 40:60 (v/v). Column containing octylsilyl chemically bonded to porous silica particles (Optimapak, OP C8, 150 mmx4.6 mm, 5 microm, stainless steel analytical column from RS tech) is used as stationary phase. The detection is carried out using variable wavelength UV-vis detector set at 280 nm. The solutions are chromatographed at constant flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The method separates MP, PP, DP and droperidol (DR) impurity in less than 12 min with good resolution, peak shapes and minimal tailing. Retention times (RT) for MP, PP, DP and DR are about 3.4, 7.0, 9.0 and 10.9 min, respectively. Linearity range and percent recoveries for MP, PP and DP are 90-270, 10-30, 50-1500 microg/mL and 100.30%, 100.78% and 100.48%, respectively. Method was validated according to ICH guidelines and proved to be suitable for stability testing, homogeneity testing and quality control of these compounds in pharmaceutical preparations.

Determination of phenolics in cosmetic creams and similar emulsions

A new method for the analysis of phenolics in cosmetic creams has been developed, based on a systematic study of the extractability of five phenolic compounds from such emulsions. A solid-liquid extraction using ultrasound was applied as a prior stage to the chromatographic determination of phenolics in the extracts. Three solvents, hexane, methanol and water, were used as extracting agents. These solvents permit both the de-emulsification of the creams and the extraction of phenolics. A factorial fractional experimental design was developed to analyse the influence in the extraction process of five different extraction variables: ultrasound horn, temperature, extracting volume, cycle and amplitude of ultrasounds. Graphic analysis of results revealed the variables with most influence in the extraction, as well as the interactions between the variables. Finally, the influence of the extraction time and the sample quantity were also studied. With this new method, phenolics can be extracted from silicone-based cosmetic creams in 10 min, using 50 degrees C as extraction temperature. RSDs (n=6) calculated ranged from 1.5% for ferulic acid to 6.5% for epicatechin. Recoveries of between 88.9% for gallic acid and 98.4% for caffeic acid were obtained.

A novel gradient HPLC method for simultaneous determination of ranitidine, methylparaben and propylparaben in oral liquid pharmaceutical formulation

A selective and accurate high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of ranitidine, methylparaben (MP) and propylparaben (PP) in oral liquids. Samples were purified by solid-phase extraction (SPE) using a copolymeric [poly(divinylbenzene-co-N-vinylpyrrolidone)] sorbent. The chromatographic separation was achieved by HPLC using a mixture of ammonium acetate solution (0.5 M), acetonitrile and methanol as the mobile phase with gradient elution, a Nucleosil C18 column and UV detection at 254 nm. The method was validated with respect to linearity, precision, accuracy, selectivity, and robustness. All the parameters examined met the current recommendations for bioanalytical method validation. The method was found to be applicable to routine analysis (assays and stability tests) of active compound (ranitidine) and preservatives (MP and PP).