Quantitative determination of diclofenac sodium in solid dosage forms by FT-Raman spectroscopy

Quantitative study of ternary polycrystalline mixtures of prulifloxacin based on Raman spectra and Raman imaging maps

Prulifloxacin, a broad-spectrum quinolone antibiotic, exhibits three distinct crystal forms, each with different bioavailability and therapeutic properties. It is imperative to assess and control the proportion of each crystal form during the production of raw materials and preparations. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an analytical method that can determine the content of each crystal form in the ternary polycrystalline mixtures. In this study, prulifloxacin crystal forms were analyzed and quantitatively measured using Raman spectroscopy. First, three pure crystal forms of prulifloxacin were prepared under different crystallization conditions and mixed into ternary mixtures at the designed proportions. Subsequently, the ternary mixed crystal samples were analyzed using a Raman microscope.Then run a partial least squares regression analysis to establish a PLS quantitative model using the average spectra data, and a non-negative least squares analysis to establish an area percentage quantitative model using Raman imaging data.The method validation results showed that the two models successfully predicted the proportion of each crystal form within the prulifloxacin polycrystalline mixtures, with a prediction accuracy of less than ± 10 %. Raman spectroscopy was thus established as an effective method for crystal form analysis and quantitative measurement of prulifloxacin.

Application of Artificial Neural Networks in the Process Analytical Technology of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing-a Review

Industry 4.0 has started to transform the manufacturing industries by embracing digitalization, automation, and big data, aiming for interconnected systems, autonomous decisions, and smart factories. Machine learning techniques, such as artificial neural networks (ANN), have emerged as potent tools to address the related computational tasks. These advancements have also reached the pharmaceutical industry, where the Process Analytical Technology (PAT) initiative has already paved the way for the real-time analysis of the processes and the science- and risk-based flexible production. This paper aims to assess the potential of ANNs within the PAT concept to aid the modernization of pharmaceutical manufacturing. The current state of ANNs is systematically reviewed for the most common manufacturing steps of solid pharmaceutical products, and possible research gaps and future directions are identified. In this way, this review could aid the further development of machine learning techniques for pharmaceutical production and eventually contribute to the implementation of intelligent manufacturing lines with automated quality assurance.

Construction and application of the qualitative and quantitative analysis system of three boscalid polymorphs based on solid-state analytical methods and chemometric tools

In view of the important influence of solid form on the production and use of agrochemical, it is crucial to develop the accurate and useful qualitative and quantitative analysis system...

Quantification and Classification of Diclofenac Sodium Content in Dispersed Commercially Available Tablets by Attenuated Total Reflection Infrared Spectroscopy and Multivariate Data Analysis

A new methodology, based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy equipped with an attenuated total reflectance accessory (ATR FT-IR), was developed for the determination of diclofenac sodium (DS) in dispersed commercially available tablets using chemometric tools such as partial least squares (PLS) coupled with discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). The results of PLS-DA depicted a perfect classification of the tablets into three different groups based on their DS concentrations, while the developed model with PLS had a sufficiently low root mean square error (RMSE) for the prediction of the samples’ concentration (~5%) and therefore can be practically used for any tablet with an unknown concentration of DS. Comparison with ultraviolet/visible (UV/Vis) spectrophotometry as the reference method revealed no significant difference between the two methods. The proposed methodology exhibited satisfactory results in terms of both accuracy and precision while being rapid, simple and of low cost.

Potential of Raman spectroscopy in facilitating pharmaceutical formulations development - An AI perspective

Drug development is time-consuming and inherently possesses a high failure rate. Pharmaceutical formulation development is the bridge that links a new chemical entity (NCE) to pre-clinical and clinical trials, and has a high impact on the efficacy and safety of the final drug product. Further, the time required for this process is escalating as formulation techniques are becoming more complicated due to the rising demands for drug products with better efficacy and patient compliance, as well as the inherent difficulties of addressing the unfavorable properties of NCEs such as low water solubility. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) provides possibilities to accelerate the drug development process. In this review, we first examine applications of AI methods in different types of pharmaceutical formulations and formulation techniques. Moreover, as availability of data is the engine for the advancement of AI, we then suggest a potential way (i.e. applying Raman spectroscopy) for faster high-quality data gathering from formulations. Raman techniques have the capability of analyzing the composition and distribution of components and the physicochemical properties thereof within formulations, which are prominent factors governing drug dissolution profiles and subsequently bioavailability. Thus, useful information can be obtained bridging formulation development to the final product quality.

In Vitro Tests of FDM 3D-Printed Diclofenac Sodium-Containing Implants

One of the most promising emerging innovations in personalized medication is based on 3D printing technology. For use as authorized medications, 3D-printed products require different in vitro tests, including dissolution and biocompatibility investigations. Our objective was to manufacture implantable drug delivery systems using fused deposition modeling, and in vitro tests were performed for the assessment of these products. Polylactic acid, antibacterial polylactic acid, polyethylene terephthalate glycol, and poly(methyl methacrylate) filaments were selected, and samples with 16, 19, or 22 mm diameters and 0%, 5%, 10%, or 15% infill percentages were produced. The dissolution test was performed by a USP dissolution apparatus 1. A 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide dye (MTT)-based prolonged cytotoxicity test was performed on Caco-2 cells to certify the cytocompatibility properties. The implantable drug delivery systems were characterized by thermogravimetric and heatflow assay, contact angle measurement, scanning electron microscopy, microcomputed tomography, and Raman spectroscopy. Based on our results, it can be stated that the samples are considered nontoxic. The dissolution profiles are influenced by the material properties of the polymers, the diameter, and the infill percentage. Our results confirm the potential of fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing for the manufacturing of different implantable drug delivery systems in personalized medicine and may be applied during surgical interventions.

S(-) and R(+) species derived from antihistaminic promethazine agent: structural and vibrational studies

Structural and vibrational properties of free base, cationic and hydrochloride species derived from both S(-) and R(+) enantiomers of antihistaminic promethazine (PTZ) agent have been theoretically evaluated in gas phase and in aqueous solution by using the hybrid B3LYP/6-31G* calculations. The initial structures of S(-) and R(+) enantiomers of hydrochloride PTZ were those polymorphic forms 1 and 2 experimentally determined by X-ray diffraction. Here, all structures in aqueous solution were optimized at the same level of theory by using the polarized continuum (PCM) and the universal solvation model. As was experimentally reported, variations in the unit cell lead to slight energy, density, and melting point differences between the two forms but, this behavior is not carried through in isotropic condition, like in solution with non-chiral solvents. Hence, the N-C distances, Mulliken, atomic natural population (NPA) and Merz-Kollman (MK) charges, bond orders, stabilization and solvation energies, frontier orbitals, some descriptors and their topological properties were compared with the antihistaminic cyclizine agent. The frontier orbitals studies show that the free base species of both forms in solution are more reactive than cyclizine. Higher electrophilicity indexes are observed in the cationic and hydrochloride species of PTZ than cyclizine while the cationic species of cyclizine have higher nucleophilicity index than both species of PTZ. The presences of bands attributed to cationic species of both enantiomers are clearly supported by the infrared and Raman spectra in the solid phase. The expected 114, 117 and 120 vibration normal modes for the free base, cationic and hydrochloride species of both forms were completely assigned and the force constants reported. Reasonable concordances among the predicted infrared, Raman, UV-Vis and Electronic Circular Dichroism (ECD) with the corresponding experimental ones were found.

Highly sensitive determination of diclofenac based on resin beads and a novel polyclonal antibody by using flow injection chemiluminescence competitive immunoassay

A novel flow injection chemiluminescence immunoassay for simple, sensitive and low-cost detection of diclofenac was established based on specific binding of antigen and antibody. Carboxylic resin beads used as solid phase carrier materials provided good biocompatibility and large surface-to-volume ratio for modifying more coating antigen. There was a competitive process between the diclofenac in solution and the immobilized coating antigen to react with the limited binding sites of the polyclonal antibody to form the immunocomplex. The second antibody labelled with horseradish peroxidase was introduced into the immunosensor and trapped by captured polyclonal antibody against diclofenac, which could effectively amplify chemiluminescence signals of luminol-PIP-H₂O₂. Under optimal conditions, the diclofenac could be detected quantitatively. The chemiluminescence intensity decreased linearly with the logarithm of the diclofenac concentration in the range of 0.1-100ngmL^-1 with a detection limit of 0.05ngmL^-1 at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. The immunosensor exhibited high sensitivity, specificity and acceptable stability. This easy-operated and cost-effective analytical method could be valuable for the diclofenac determination in real water samples.

Classification and Visualization of Physical and Chemical Properties of Falsified Medicines with Handheld Raman Spectroscopy and X-Ray Computed Tomography

Analytical methods for the detection of substandard and falsified medical products (SFs) are important for public health and patient safety. Research to understand how the physical and chemical properties of SFs can be most effectively applied to distinguish the SFs from authentic products has not yet been investigated enough. Here, we investigated the usefulness of two analytical methods, handheld Raman spectroscopy (handheld Raman) and X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT), for detecting SFs among oral solid antihypertensive pharmaceutical products containing candesartan cilexetil as an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). X-ray CT visualized at least two different types of falsified tablets, one containing many cracks and voids and the other containing aggregates with high electron density, such as from the presence of the heavy elements. Generic products that purported to contain equivalent amounts of API to the authentic products were discriminated from the authentic products by the handheld Raman and the different physical structure on X-ray CT. Approach to investigate both the chemical and physical properties with handheld Raman and X-ray CT, respectively, promise the accurate discrimination of the SFs, even if their visual appearance is similar with authentic products. We present a decision tree for investigating the authenticity of samples purporting to be authentic commercial tablets. Our results indicate that the combination approach of visual observation, handheld Raman and X-ray CT is a powerful strategy for nondestructive discrimination of suspect samples.

Matrix Effects in Quantitative Assessment of Pharmaceutical Tablets Using Transmission Raman and Near-Infrared (NIR) Spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy can be an alternative to near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) for nondestructive quantitative analysis of solid pharmaceutical formulations. Compared with NIR spectra, Raman spectra have much better selectivity, but subsampling was always an issue for quantitative assessment. Raman spectroscopy in transmission mode has reduced this issue, since a large volume of the sample is measured in transmission mode. The sample matrix, such as particle size of the drug substance in a tablet, may affect the Raman signal. In this work, matrix effects in transmission NIR and Raman spectroscopy were systematically investigated for a solid pharmaceutical formulation. Tablets were manufactured according to an experimental design, varying the factors particle size of the drug substance (DS), particle size of the filler, compression force, and content of drug substance. All factors were varied at two levels plus a center point, except the drug substance content, which was varied at five levels. Six tablets from each experimental point were measured with transmission NIR and Raman spectroscopy, and their concentration of DS was determined for a third of those tablets. Principal component analysis of NIR and Raman spectra showed that the drug substance content and particle size, the particle size of the filler, and the compression force affected both NIR and Raman spectra. For quantitative assessment, orthogonal partial least squares regression was applied. All factors varied in the experimental design influenced the prediction of the DS content to some extent, both for NIR and Raman spectroscopy, the particle size of the filler having the largest effect. When all matrix variations were included in the multivariate calibrations, however, good predictions of all types of tablets were obtained, both for NIR and Raman spectroscopy. The prediction error using transmission Raman spectroscopy was about 30% lower than that obtained with transmission NIR spectroscopy.

Flow injection determination of diclofenac sodium based on its sensitizing effect on the chemiluminescent reaction of acidic potassium permanganate-formaldehyde

A sensitive and simple chemiluminescent (CL) method for the determination of diclofenac sodium has been developed by combining the flow injection technique and its sensitizing effect on the weak CL reaction between formaldehyde and acidic potassium permanganate. A calibration curve is constructed for diclofenac sodium under optimized experimental parameters over the range 0.040-5.0 µg/mL and the limit of detection is 0.020 µg/mL (3σ). The inter-assay relative standard deviation for 0.040 µg/mL diclofenac sodium (n = 11) is 2.0%. This method is rapid, sensitive, simple, and shows good selectivity and reproducibility. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the determination of the studied diclofenac sodium in pharmaceutical preparations with satisfactory results. Furthermore, the possible mechanism for the CL reaction has been discussed in detail on the basis of UV and CL spectra.

In situ monitoring of powder blending by non-invasive Raman spectrometry with wide area illumination

A 785nm diode laser and probe with a 6mm spot size were used to obtain spectra of stationary powders and powders mixing at 50rpm in a high shear convective blender. Two methods of assessing the effect of particle characteristics on the Raman sampling depth for microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel), aspirin or sodium nitrate were compared: (i) the information depth, based on the diminishing Raman signal of TiO(2) in a reference plate as the depth of powder prior to the plate was increased, and (ii) the depth at which a sample became infinitely thick, based on the depth of powder at which the Raman signal of the compound became constant. The particle size, shape, density and/or light absorption capability of the compounds were shown to affect the "information" and "infinitely thick" depths of individual compounds. However, when different sized fractions of aspirin were added to Avicel as the main component, the depth values of aspirin were the same and matched that of the Avicel: 1.7mm for the "information" depth and 3.5mm for the "infinitely thick" depth. This latter value was considered to be the minimum Raman sampling depth when monitoring the addition of aspirin to Avicel in the blender. Mixing profiles for aspirin were obtained non-invasively through the glass wall of the vessel and could be used to assess how the aspirin blended into the main component, identify the end point of the mixing process (which varied with the particle size of the aspirin), and determine the concentration of aspirin in real time. The Raman procedure was compared to two other non-invasive monitoring techniques, near infrared (NIR) spectrometry and broadband acoustic emission spectrometry. The features of the mixing profiles generated by the three techniques were similar for addition of aspirin to Avicel. Although Raman was less sensitive than NIR spectrometry, Raman allowed compound specific mixing profiles to be generated by studying the mixing behaviour of an aspirin-aspartame-Avicel mixture.

Comparison of high-resolution ultrasonic resonator technology and Raman spectroscopy as novel process analytical tools for drug quantification in self-emulsifying drug delivery systems

Self-emulsifying drug delivery systems (SEDDS) are complex mixtures in which drug quantification can become a challenging task. Thus, a general need exists for novel analytical methods and a particular interest lies in techniques with the potential for process monitoring. This article compares Raman spectroscopy with high-resolution ultrasonic resonator technology (URT) for drug quantification in SEDDS. The model drugs fenofibrate, indomethacin, and probucol were quantitatively assayed in different self-emulsifying formulations. We measured ultrasound velocity and attenuation in the bulk formulation containing drug at different concentrations. The formulations were also studied by Raman spectroscopy. We used both, an in-line immersion probe for the bulk formulation and a multi-fiber sensor for measuring through hard-gelatin capsules that were filled with SEDDS. Each method was assessed by calculating the relative standard error of prediction (RSEP) as well as the limit of quantification (LOQ) and the mean recovery. Raman spectroscopy led to excellent calibration models for the bulk formulation as well as the capsules. The RSEP depended on the SEDDS type with values of 1.5-3.8%, while LOQ was between 0.04 and 0.35% (w/w) for drug quantification in the bulk. Similarly, the analysis of the capsules led to RSEP of 1.9-6.5% and LOQ of 0.01-0.41% (w/w). On the other hand, ultrasound attenuation resulted in RSEP of 2.3-4.4% and LOQ of 0.1-0.6% (w/w). Moreover, ultrasound velocity provided an interesting analytical response in cases where the drug strongly affected the density or compressibility of the SEDDS. We conclude that ultrasonic resonator technology and Raman spectroscopy constitute suitable methods for drug quantification in SEDDS, which is promising for their use as process analytical technologies.

Clinical significance of serum levels of tumor type M2-pyruvate kinase and heat shock protein 90α in patients with gastric cancer

AIM: To measure serum levels of tumor type M2 pyruvate kinase (M2-PK) and heat shock protein 90α (HSP90α) in patients with gastric cancer and to evaluate their clinical significance by comparing to serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA).

METHODS: A total of 80 patients with gastric cancer and 80 controls were enrolled in this study. Serum levels of M2-PK and HSP90α were measured by ELISA, while those of CEA were determined by radioimmunoassay.

RESULTS: Serum levels of M2-PK, HSP90α and CEA were significantly higher in patients with gastric cancer than in controls (all P < 0.05). The sensitivity and specificity of detection of M2-PK, HSP90α and CEA were 56.25% and 91.25%, 52.50% and 92.50%, and 45.00% and 92.50% respectively. Compared to detection of HSP90α and CEA alone, detection of M2-PK had a higher sensitivity. The sensitivity of combined detection of M2-PK, HSP90α and CEA was increased to 91.25%. Serum M2-PK was positively correlated with tumor size, TNM stage, invasion depth and lymph node metastasis (all P < 0.05). A significant positive correlation was noted between serum M2-PK and HSP90α levels in patients with gastric cancer.

CONCLUSION: Serum M2-PK and HSP90α can be used as potential markers for gastric cancer. There is a strong positive correlation between serum M2-PK and HSP90α levels in patients with gastric cancer.

Swift Quantification of Fenofibrate and Tiemonium methylsulfate Active Ingredients in Solid Drugs Using Particle Induced X-Ray Emission

The quantification of active ingredients (AI) in drugs is a crucial and important step in the drug quality control process. This is usually performed by using wet chemical techniques like LC-MS, UV spectrophotometry and other appropriate organic analytical methods. However, if the active ingredient contains specific heteroatoms (F, S, Cl…), elemental IBA like PIXE and PIGE techniques, using small tandem accelerator of 1-2 MV, can be explored for molecular quantification. IBA techniques permit the analysis of the sample under solid form, without any laborious sample preparations. In this work, we demonstrate the ability of the Thick Target PIXE technique for rapid and accurate quantification of both low and high concentrations of active ingredients in different commercial drugs. Fenofibrate, a chlorinated active ingredient, is present in high amounts in two different commercial drugs, its quantification was done using the relative approach to an external standard. On the other hand, Tiemonium methylsulfate which exists in relatively low amount in commercial drugs, its quantification was done using GUPIX simulation code (absolute quantification) The experimental aspects related to the quantification validity (use of external standards, absolute quantification, matrix effect,...) are presented and discussed.

Screening of conditions controlling spectrophotometric sequential injection analysis

Background

Despite its potential benefits over univariate, chemometrics is rarely utilized for optimizing sequential injection analysis (SIA) methods. Specifically, in previous vis-spectrophotometric SIA methods, chemometrically optimized conditions were confined within flow rate and reagent concentrations while other conditions were ignored.

Results

The current manuscript reports, for the first time, a comprehensive screening of conditions controlling vis-spectrophotometric SIA. A new diclofenac assay method was adopted. The method was based on oxidizing diclofenac by permanganate (a major reagent) with sulfuric acid (a minor reagent). The reaction produced a spectrophotometrically detectable diclofenac form. The 2⁶ full-factorial design was utilized to study the effect of volumes of reagents and sample, in addition to flow rate and concentrations of reagents. The main effects and all interaction order effects on method performance, i.e. namely sensitivity, rapidity and reagent consumption, were determined. The method was validated and applied to pharmaceutical formulations (tablets, injection and gel).

Conclusions

Despite 64 experiments those conducted in the current study were cumbersome, the results obtained would reduce effort and time when developing similar SIA methods in the future. It is recommended to critically optimize effective and interacting conditions using other such optimization tools as fractional-factorial design, response surface and simplex, rather than full-factorial design that used at an initial optimization stage. In vis-spectrophotometric SIA methods those involve developing reactions with two reagents (major and minor), conditions affecting method performance are in the following order: sample volume > flow rate ≈ major reagent concentration >> major reagent volume ≈ minor reagent concentration >> minor reagent volume.