Development and optimization of a capillary zone electrophoresis technique for simultaneous determination of miconazole nitrate and hydrocortisone acetate in a cream pharmaceutical formulation

Abstract

A simple, fast, inexpensive, and reliable capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method for the determination of a mixture of miconazole nitrate (MCZ) and hydrocortisone acetate (HCZ) in a cream formulation has been developed and validated. Optimum conditions were sodium dihydrogen phosphate buffer (50 mM, pH 4) and 30 kV applied voltage in a 85 cm × 75 μm id capillary. Direct UV detection at 230 nm led to adequate sensitivity without interference from the sample excipients. MCZ and HCZ migrated in approximately 165 and 415 s, respectively. The analytical curves had a coefficient of correlation, r, of 0.9999 and 0.9996 for MCZ and HCZ, respectively. The LOD and LOQ were 0.28 and 0.93 μg/mL for MCZ and 0.38 and 1.27 μg/mL for HCZ, respectively. Thus, excellent accuracy and precision were obtained. Recoveries varied from 98 to 102%, and intraday and interday precision, calculated as the RSD, were less than 2.0% for each drug. The proposed CZE method displayed advantageous performance characteristics and can be considered suitable for QC of the MCZ and HCZ cream formulation. © 2014 Publishing Technology.