Development and validation of a heart-cutting liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry method for the determination of process-related substances in cetirizine tablets

Mapping Advantages and Challenges in Analytical Development for Fixed Dose Combination Products, a Review

Formulations containing more than one active ingredient are increasingly gaining popularity due to advantages with regard to patient convenience as well as reduced cost of production, packaging, and transportation. Such fixed-dose combinations (FDCs) demand for enhanced analytical methodologies and tools to efficiently achieve quality control of these complex products as compared to the conventional products containing only one active constituent. Highly efficient analytical methods can measure multiple constituents at once, improving their quality control. This review article discusses the challenges in the development of such methods due to the similarities or differences in the chemical identity of the participating drug molecules in an FDC. The latest developments in multiple analyte determination using various analytical techniques (HPLC, LC-MS, NMR, IR, powder XRD and DSC) are discussed, with a focus on special considerations in each case. The article discusses challenges with sample preparation of complex FDC products, and the use of Chemometrics and Quality by Design to develop efficient analytical methods. Lastly, an equation-based approach is proposed and demonstrated to arrive at a parameter referred to as "percentage efficiency gain" that would be useful in directly accessing the relevance and commercial benefits of a simultaneous method vis-a-vis separate methods for individual components.

Zinc Oxide–Graphene Nanocomposite-Based Sensor for the Electrochemical Determination of Cetirizine

A nanocomposite electrode of graphene (Gr) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles was fabricated to study the electrochemical oxidation behavior of an anti-inflammatory drug, i.e., cetirizine (CET). The voltametric response of CET for bare CPE, Gr/CPE, ZnO/CPE, and the ZnO-Gr nanocomposite electrode was studied. The modifier materials were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) to comprehend the surface morphology of the utilized modifiers. The influence of pH, scan rate, and accumulation time on the electrooxidation of CET was examined. It was found that the electrochemical oxidation of CET was diffusion-controlled, in which two protons and two electrons participated. The detection limit was found to be 2.8 × 10−8 M in a linearity range of 0.05–4.0 µM. Study of excipients was also performed, and it was found that they had negligible interference with the peak potential of CET. The validation and utility of the fabricated nanocomposite sensor material were examined by analyzing clinical and biological samples. Stability testing of the nanocomposite electrode was conducted to assess the reproducibility, determining that the developed biosensor has good stability and high efficiency in producing reproducible results.

An Improved Reversed-Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Method for the Analysis of Related Substances of Prednisolone in Active Ingredient

Prednisolone, an important active pharmaceutical ingredient, is a synthetic glucocorticoid used for the preparation of various pharmaceutical products with anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties. It is a challenge in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to separate the prednisolone peak and its structurally related substance (hydrocortisone), which only differs in a double bond at the C-1 position. Successful application of the HPLC method according to the European Pharmacopoeia monograph for related substances of prednisolone is very often limited to the chromatographic system available. This is due to the nonbaseline separation of the prednisolone and hydrocortisone peaks, which is strongly influenced by the instrument parameters and the chosen C18 column. First, an adjusted European Pharmacopoeia method for related substances of prednisolone was developed within the allowable adjustments. Next, an improved stability-indicating reversed-phase HPLC method for related substances of prednisolone was developed and validated for use in quality control laboratories for routine analysis. The optimized separation was performed on a Phenomenex Gemini C18 column (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 3 μm) using a gradient mobile-phase system consisting of acetonitrile/tetrahydrofuran/water (15:10:75 v/v/v), acetonitrile/water (80:20 v/v), and ultraviolet detection at 254 nm. A baseline separation was achieved, and stability indicating capability was demonstrated by a forced degradation study. A full validation procedure was performed in accordance with International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use guidelines.

Non-target impurity profiling of marketplace Cetirizine using high-resolution mass spectrometry and multivariate data analysis

RATIONALE

As always, drug impurity is the first concern of medication safety. The quality of pre- and post-marketed drugs is estimated through systematic analysis of potential hazardous substances by impurity profiling. Impurity profile is the general name of all unwanted materials which may affect the purity of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). The safety of original drugs is guaranteed by an enormous amount of animal experiments and clinical research while the safety of generic drugs should also be ensured by comparative analysis for consistency evaluation. The significantly differential impurities between them should be focused on and the toxicity should be further estimated if necessary. Herein, we take a marketplace drug named Cetirizine as an example to investigate if there was a method which could effectively discover the potential markers among Cetirizine tablets with different brands and describe specific impurity profiling which makes the unknown brand of Cetirizine tablets predictable.

METHODS

Liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC/HRMS) was applied to capture the characteristic features of the impurity profile for three brands of marketplace Cetirizine tablets using full scan data-dependent MS/MS scan mode (FS-ddMS(2) ).

RESULTS

Unsupervised learning: principal component analysis (PCA) and supervised learning: consensus orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were utilized to reveal the essential character of Cetirizine impurity profile; 16 differential impurities were finally found, their structures were speculated by HRMS(2) data.

CONCLUSIONS

The cause of formation was further elucidated which gave a suggestion for production process optimization. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Trace analysis in complex mixtures using a high-component filtering strategy with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Trace constituents are widely present in complex mixtures, and trace analysis is challenging because of the unpredictable matrix. In this work, a high-component filtering strategy was developed for improved analysis of trace constituents in complex sample by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Using a specifically designed chromatographic apparatus, the high-abundant fractions were filtered prior to LC-MS analysis. The samples complexity was reduced and the sample-loading amount for the rest low-level fractions can be considerably increased. The application of this approach was illustrated with an analytically challenging sample, a traditional Chinese herbal medicine named Compound Danshen Sample. We observed that the loss rate for 12 analytes during the filtering procedure ranged from 6.54 to 26.11%, but showed a stable repeatability with RSD<3.79%. The proposed filtering method with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometritry (Q-TOF/MS) enhanced the detection capacity, offering a comprehensive characterization of 133 compounds in Compound Danshen Samples. The quantification sensitivity was also improved in trace analysis, allowing six low compounds that cannot be quantified by the traditional methods to be tested by the filtering method. It can be predicted that the qualitative and quantitative trace analysis will be greatly improved when the loading samples is increased resulting from the filtration of high-level targets. The proposed strategy is promising to monitor trace constituents in diverse complex mixtures in the analytical field of pharmaceutics, metabonomics and environments.

Influence of multiple injections of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) on urine and serum endogenous steroids concentrations

Since it is established that human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) affects testosterone production and release in the human body, the use of this hormone as a performance enhancing drug has been prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Nowadays, the only validated biomarker of a hCG doping is its direct quantification in urine. However, this specific parameter is subjected to large inter-individual variability and its determination is directly dependent on the reliability of hCG immunoassays used. In order to counteract these weaknesses, new biomarkers need to be evidenced. To address this issue, a pilot clinical study was performed on 10 volunteers submitted to 3 subsequent hCG injections. Blood and urine samples were collected during two weeks in order to follow the physiological effects on related compounds such as the steroid profile or hormones involved in the hypothalamo-pituitary axis. The hCG pharmacokinetic observed in all subjects was, as expected, prone to important inter-individual variations. Using ROC plots, level of testosterone and testosterone on luteinizing hormone ratio in both blood and urine were found to be the most relevant biomarker of a hCG abuse, regardless of inter-individual variations. In conclusion, this study showed the crucial importance of reliable quantification methods to assess low differences in hormonal patterns. In regard to these results and to anti-doping requirements and constraints, blood together with urine matrix should be included in the anti-doping testing program. Together with a longitudinal follow-up approach it could constitute a new strategy to detect a hCG abuse, applicable to further forms of steroid or other forbidden drug manipulation.

Harmonization of strategies for the validation of quantitative analytical procedures: a SFSTP proposal part IV. Examples of application

A harmonized approach for the validation of analytical methods based on accuracy profile was introduced by a SFSTP commission on the validation of analytical procedure. This fourth and last document aims at illustrating this methodology and the statistics used. Therefore the validation of real case methods are proposed such as methods for the quality control of drugs, for the quantitation of impurities in drug substances, for bioanalysis or for the determination of nutriments. Furthermore, different types of analytical methods are used in order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach to a wide range of methods such as liquid chromatography (LC-UV, LC-MS), spectrophotometry or ELISA.

Comparison of HPLC and CE methods for the determination of cetirizine dihydrochloride in human plasma samples

Two methods, capillary electrophoresis (CE) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), for analysis of cetirizine dihydrochloride in small sample volumes of human plasma were compared. The CE and HPLC assays were developed and validated by analyzing a series of plasma samples containing cetirizine dihydrochloride in different concentrations using these two methods. The extraction procedure is simple and no complicated purification steps or derivatization are required. The analysis time in the HPLC method was shorter than that in the CE method, but solvent consumption was considerably lower in the CE method. The calibration curve was linear to at least 10-1000 ng/mL both for CE and HPLC with r(2) = 0.9993 and r(2) = 0.9994, respectively. The detection limits for cetirizine dihydrochloride were 3 and 5 ng/mL with CE and HPLC (a UV detector was applied in the both cases), respectively. Both methods were selective, robust and specific, allowing reliable quantification of cetirizine dihydrochloride, and could be useful for clinical and biomedical investigations.

Sensitive bioassay for the simultaneous determination of pseudoephedrine and cetirizine in human plasma by liquid-chromatography–ion trap spectrometry

A liquid chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry coupled with electrospray ionization (HPLC-ESI-ion trap mass spectrometry) method for simultaneous determination of cetirizine and pseudoephedrine in human plasma is presented. Chromatographic separation was performed on a Hypurity C18 column (Thermo Hypersil-Keystone 2.1 mm x 150 mm, 5 microm, USA), The mobile phase was composed of 65% methanol and 35% water (contained 0.1% formic acid, 10 mM ammonium formate), which was run with a flow-rate of 0.2 ml/min at 40 degrees C. Quantitation was achieved by monitoring the product ions at m/z 166-->m/z 148 (pseudoephedrine), m/z 389.9-->m/z 201.1 (cetirizine), m/z 264-->m/z 246 (tramadol, IS). The calibration curve of pseudoephedrine and cetirizine was established with standard solutions. The limit of detection for pseudoephedrine and cetirizine each was 5 ng/ml. This simplified analytical method is sensitive, specific and accurate enough for simultaneous determination of pseudoephedrine and cetirizine in human plasma and is successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of pseudoephedrine and cetirizine.

Validation of a gas chromatography—Ion trap tandem mass spectrometry for simultaneous analyse of cocaine and its metabolites in saliva

Cocaine (COC) is one of the most widely used drugs of abuse. Therefore numerous procedures are published in the literature to propose an analysis of this substance and related compounds in different matrixes. In the same way, the authors have described, in a previous work, the simultaneous analysis of COC and three of its metabolites in hair by gas chromatography-ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) using chemical ionization with isobutane. The present paper investigated the ability to transfer this convenient existing method for hair to another matrix, in occurrence saliva. The aim of this work was then to verify that the whole procedure (solid phase extraction (SPE) and analytical method) was also convenient to analyse simultaneously COC and three of its metabolites in this matrix. Therefore this sensitive GC-MS/MS method has been studied for the simultaneous analysis of COC, anhydroecgonine methylester (AEME), ecgonine methylester (EME) and cocaethylene (COET) in saliva samples. The method has been validated and its performances were evaluated in terms of trueness and precision using quality control (QC) samples. For quantification, the following ranges were found appropriate: 5-500 ng/ml for EME, 2-500 ng/ml for COC and COET; AEME could only be determined "semi-quantitatively" between 2 and 200 ng/ml according to our chosen acceptance criteria. Suggested dissociation pathways have also been proposed to interpret the obtained spectra.

Chiral separation of cetirizine by capillary electrophoresis

Chiral separation of cetirizine, a second-generation H(1)-antagonist, was studied by CD-mediated CE. Several parameters, including pH, CD type, buffer concentration, type of co-ion, applied voltage and temperature, were investigated. The best conditions for chiral separation were obtained using a 75 mM triethanolamine-phosphate buffer (pH 2.5) containing 0.4 mg/mL heptakis(2,3-diacetyl-6-sulfato)-beta-CD and 10% ACN. Online UV detection was performed at 214 nm, a voltage of 20 kV was applied and the capillary was temperature controlled at 25 degrees C by liquid cooling. Hydrodynamic injection was performed for 1 s. The method was validated for the quantification of levocetirizine in tablets and for enantiomeric purity testing of the drug substance. Selectivity, linearity, LOD and LOQ, precision and accuracy were evaluated for both methods. The amount of levocetirizine dihydrochloride in the commercially available tablets was quantified and was found to be within the specification limits of the claimed amount (5 mg). The amount of distomer in levocetirizine drug substance was found to be 0.87 +/- 0.09% w/w, which is in agreement with the certificate of analysis supplied by the company.

Enantioselective analysis of cetirizine in pharmaceuticals by cyclodextrin-mediated capillary electrophoresis

The present paper demonstrates the potential of cyclodextrin (CD)-mediated CE for the chiral analysis of a drug of zwitterionic nature, viz. cetirizine (CET). Various separation mechanisms were applied and several parameters affecting the separation were studied, including the type and concentration of chiral selector, coselector, and carrier ion, and pH of buffer. The optimal separation conditions were based on a medium buffer pH (approximately 5.2) (migration velocity of CET molecule was near to zero) and a highly substituted CD derivative, sulfated-beta-CD, serving as an analyte carrier in the anionic regime of the separation with suppressed electroosmotic flow. In this way, a baseline enantioseparation, reasonable separation efficiency, and short analysis time could be easily achieved. Acceptable validation criteria for sensitivity, linearity, precision, accuracy, and robustness were obtained using a hydrodynamically closed CE separation system. The proposed method was successfully applied to the enantioselective assay of CET in pharmaceutical formulations using fexofenadine (FEX) as an internal standard.

Component Detection Weighted Index of Analogy: Similarity Recognition on Liquid Chromatographic Mass Spectral Data for the Characterization of Route/Process Specific Impurities in Pharmaceutical Tablets

Detection and identification of impurities in pharmaceuticals is an essential task for determining the possible infringement of a patent. This article reports a multivariate analysis method to distinguish between tablets of the same substance on the basis of their origin, by characterizing route/process specific impurities via diagnostic ion chromatograms, using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS). The approach is based on the formulation of a novel index that quantifies the similarity between LC/MS samples, named the component detection weighted index of analogy. The index estimates similarity by fully exploiting the two-dimensional nature of the data, where the relative contribution of chromatograms relates to their quality and noise level. Results show that well-defined clusters are formed according to the origin of tablets; a series of ions are identified as characterizing each class and can be used to predict the origin of unknown tablet samples. The method presented is designed for analysis of larger data sets and can be suitable for exploratory analysis where any a priori knowledge on the data is scarce or absent, hence requiring the acquisition of chromatograms in a broad m/z range.

Determination of cetirizine dihydrochloride, related impurities and preservatives in oral solution and tablet dosage forms using HPLC

An HPLC method was developed and validated for the determination of cetirizine dihydrochloride (CZ) as well as its related impurities in commercial oral solution and tablet formulations. Furthermore, two preservatives associated with the drug formulations, namely, propyl (PP) and butylparabens (BP) were successfully determined by this method. The chromatographic system used was equipped with a Hypersil BDS C18, 5 microm column (4.6 x 250 mm) and a detector set at 230 nm in conjunction with a mobile phase of 0.05 M dihydrogen phosphate:acetonitrile:methanol:tetrahydrofuran (12:5:2:1, v/v/v/v) at a pH of 5.5 and a flow rate of 1 ml min(-1). The calibration curves were linear within the target concentration ranges studied, namely, 2 x 10(2) - 8 x 10(2) microg ml(-1) and 1-4 microg ml(-1) for CZ, 20-100 microg ml(-1) for preservatives and 1-4 microg ml(-1) for CZ related impurities. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) for CZ were, respectively, 0.10 and 0.34 microg ml(-1) and for CZ related impurities were in the ranges of 0.08-0.26 microg ml(-1) and 0.28-0.86 microg ml(-1), respectively. The method proved to be specific, stability indicating, accurate, precise, robust and could be used as an alternative to the European pharmacopoeial method set for CZ and its related impurities.