Two selective, sensitive and environmentally safe LC methods were developed and validated for determination of paracetamol, caffeine, ergotamine tartrate and metoclopramide in coformulated antimigraine tablets along with p‐aminophenol, p‐nitrophenol and theophylline as officially specified impurities. The first is based on high‐performance thin‐layer chromatography (HPTLC) coupled with densitometric quantitation. Separation was achieved on HPTLC silica gel 60 F254 plates as stationary phase using ethyl acetate:aqueous ammonium hydroxide solution:glacial acetic acid (10.0:0.4:0.1, by volume) as a developing system followed by scanning of the separated bands at 210.0 nm. The subsequent method depends on HPLC with diode array detection. The LC separation was accomplished on a Scharlau C18 (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) column using a mixture of 20.0 mm sodium dihydrogen phosphate, pH 3.0, adjusted with o‐phosphoric acid and methanol, at a flow rate of 1.3 mL/min in a gradient elution program. The separated peaks were detected at 210.0 nm. The proposed methods have been validated and proven to meet the requirements outlined in the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) guidelines. The greenness profile evaluation was carried out using three tools, namely, the National Environmental Method Index, the Analytical EcoScale and the Green Analytical Procedure Index tool, and a comparative study was then conducted. Successful application of the developed methods for determination of the cited quaternary mixture in Metograine tablets confirms their suitability regarding the analytical performance and ecological impact in quality control assay and impurity profiling purposes.
Diphenhydramine (DIPH) has become one of the world's most widely abused over-the-counter medications. In addition to relieving allergy symptoms, it is also recognized for causing elevated energy and mild euphoric effects. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently warned about serious problems at high doses including heart problems, seizures, coma or even death among addicted teenagers. Herein, a simple, cost-effective, and reliable nanocomposite based electrochemical sensor was designed for DIPH quantification in biological fluids. Introducing the functionalized Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles (NPs) into the inner-filling solution and the PVC-based ion sensing membrane has been employed and compared to the classical potentiometric approach. The nanoparticles were incorporated to endorse in situ cooperative ion-pairing interaction between the ionophore and DIPH, and to improve the selectivity and detection limit (9.5 × 10 À 8 M). Nernstian potentiometric response was achieved for DIPH over the concentration range of 1.0 × 10 À 7 to 1.0 × 10 À 2 M with a slope of 59.0 � 0.2 mV/decade. Inherent merits of the proposed sensor include fast response time (6 s), superior stability (60 days) with higher sensitivity and selectivity towards DIPH without interference from co-formulated drugs and several ions commonly found in biological matrices. The proposed sensor was successfully applied to the potentiometric determination of DIPH in different biological fluids (plasma and human milk) with an average recovery of 99.06 � 1.95 % and 100.34 � 1.92 %, respectively. As a consequence, the developed ISE might be the ideal choice for in-line DIPH measurements in plasma samples to identify overdose ingestion and its related symptoms, as well as for quality-control laboratories without prior treatments.
Currently, all researchers are concentrating their efforts on countering the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of patients are managed at home, according to recent statistics. An OTC triple action combination comprising paracetamol (PAR), aspirin (ASP), and diphenhydramine (DIPH) is commonly given for pain relief, fever control, and as a night-time sleep aid. This combination is currently recommended for COVID-19 patients as part of symptomatic treatment and management. In this work, three smart, simple, accurate, eco-friendly, and cost-effective spectrophotometric methods are developed for simultaneous determination of PAR, ASP, and DIPH in their combined over-the-counter caplet dosage form without any prior separation steps. The first method is the first derivative spectrophotometry (D1) which determined PAR at 259.7 nm. The second one is the dual-wavelength in ratio spectra (DWRS) for determination of ASP at 214.1 and 220.1 nm after using 10.0 μg/mL of PAR as a divisor, where PAR was a constant, and the wavelengths difference equal to zero for DIPH. The third method is the double divisor-ratio difference spectrophotometric one (DD-RD) which was based on using the sum of 15.0 µg/mL of each of PAR and ASP as a double divisor, and the difference in amplitudes was measured at two wavelengths ∆P(214.5–226.0) for determination of DIPH. The developed methods have been validated as per ICH guidelines. Furthermore, the three suggested methods were employed successfully to assay marketed pharmaceutical formulation and to investigate the content uniformity of the dosage units in accordance with the United States Pharmacopeia's guidelines. Finally, the greenness profile of the proposed methods was assessed and compared with the reported method using the analytical eco-scale system, national environmental method index (NEMI), green analytical procedure index (GAPI), and analytical greenness (AGREE) metric. The results from the proposed methods statistically agreed with those obtained by the reported one, with no significant differences in accuracy and precision.
Graphical Abstract
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.