Assay for hydrocortisone acetate and hydrocortisone sodium succinate
Mobile phase
Prepare a filtered and degassed mixture of butyl chloride, water-saturated butyl chloride, tetrahydrofuran, methanol, and glacial acetic acid (544:544:58:29:25). Make adjustments if necessary (see
System Suitability under
Chromatography 621).
Extraction solution
Prepare a mixture of chloroform and glacial acetic acid (1000:30).
Internal standard solution
Prepare a solution in tetrahydrofuran containing about 1.4 mg of methylprednisolone per mL.
Standard preparation
Transfer about 7.5 mg of
USP Hydrocortisone Acetate RS, accurately weighed, and 7.5
J mg of
USP Hydrocortisone Hemisuccinate RS, accurately weighed, to a conical flask,
J being the ratio of the labeled amount, in mg, of hydrocortisone sodium succinate to the labeled amount, in mg, of hydrocortisone acetate in the Topical Suspension. Add 5.0 mL of
Internal standard solution and about 95 mL of
Extraction solution, and mix.
Resolution solution
Dissolve about 3.7 mg of penicillin G procaine in 10 mL of Standard preparation.
Assay preparation
Transfer an accurately measured portion of well-mixed Topical Suspension, equivalent to about 7.5 mg of hydrocortisone acetate, to a conical flask. Add 5.0 mL of Internal standard solution and about 95 mL of Extraction solution, and shake by mechanical means for about 15 minutes. Centrifuge a portion of this mixture, and use the clear supernatant as the Assay preparation.
Chromatographic system
(see
Chromatography 621)The liquid chromatograph is equipped with a 254-nm detector, a guard column containing packing L3, and a 3.9-mm × 30-cm analytical column that contains packing L3. The flow rate is about 1 mL per minute. Chromatograph the
Resolution solution, and measure the peak responses as directed for
Procedure: the relative retention times for penicillin G procaine, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone hemisuccinate, and methylprednisone are about 0.3, 0.4, 0.7, and 1.0, respectively, and the resolution,
R, between penicillin G procaine and hydrocortisone acetate is not less than 1.5. Chromatograph the
Standard preparation, and record the peak responses as directed for
Procedure: the relative standard deviation of the ratios of the hydrocortisone acetate peak to the internal standard peak and the hydrocortisone sodium succinate peak to the internal standard peak is not more than 2%.
Procedure
Separately inject equal volumes (about 20 µL) of the
Standard preparation and the
Assay preparation into the chromatograph, record the chromatograms, and measure the responses for the major peaks. Calculate the quantity, in mg, of hydrocortisone acetate in the portion of Topical Suspension taken by the formula:
W(RU / RS),
in which
W is the quantity, in mg, of
USP Hydrocortisone Acetate RS taken to prepare the
Standard preparation, and
RU and
RS are the ratios of the hydrocortisone acetate peak response to the internal standard peak response obtained from the
Assay preparation and the
Standard preparation, respectively. Calculate the quantity, in mg, of hydrocortisone sodium succinate in the portion of Topical Suspension taken by the formula:
(484.52 / 462.54)(W)(RU / RS),
in which 484.52 and 462.54 are the molecular weights of hydrocortisone sodium succinate and anhydrous hydrocortisone hemisuccinate, respectively,
W is the quantity, in mg, of
USP Hydrocortisone Hemisuccinate RS taken to prepare the
Standard preparation, and
RU and
RS are the ratios of the hydrocortisone hemisuccinate peak response to the internal standard peak response obtained from the
Assay preparation and the
Standard preparation, respectively.