Simultaneous determination of metformin,
captopril, lisinopril, and enalapril by
RP-HPLC: its applications in dosage
formulations and in human serum
M. Saeed Arayne, Najma Sultana,
M. Hashim Zuberi, Farhan Ahmed
Siddiqui & Urooj Haroon
Medicinal Chemistry Research
ISSN 1054-2523
Med Chem Res
DOI 10.1007/s00044-013-0501-z
1 23
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Author's personal copy
MEDICINAL
CHEMISTRY
RESEARCH
Med Chem Res
DOI 10.1007/s00044-013-0501-z
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Simultaneous determination of metformin, captopril, lisinopril,
and enalapril by RP-HPLC: its applications in dosage
formulations and in human serum
M. Saeed Arayne • Najma Sultana •
M. Hashim Zuberi • Farhan Ahmed Siddiqui
Urooj Haroon
•
Received: 15 October 2012 / Accepted: 16 January 2013
Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract A simple, rapid, isocratic, high-performance
liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed for the first time for simultaneous determination of
Metformin and ACE inhibitors (lisinopril, captopril, enalapril, and its degradable product) in bulk drugs, pharmaceutical products and in human serum. The separation was
performed on a PurospherÒ Star RP-18 endcapped
(250 mm 9 4.6 mm id) column using methanol–water as
mobile phase 50:50 (v/v) and 60:40 (v/v) as diluent. The
pH of mobile phase was adjusted to 3.2 with ortho-phosphoric acid, flow rate was adjusted to 1 mLmin-1 at room
temperature (25 °C) and analytes peaks were observed
using UV detector at 218 nm. The retention times and LOD
of lisinopril, enalapril, enalapril diketopiperazine, and
captopril were 2.24, 2.63, 3.82, 4.28, and 4.78 min and
were 0.028, 0.044, 0.20, 0.016, and 0.145 lgmL-1
respectively. The method was validated according to ICH
guidelines. The linearity of the method was studied over
the concentration range of 5–50 lgmL-1 for metformin
M. S. Arayne M. H. Zuberi F. A. Siddiqui (&)
Department of Chemistry, University of Karachi,
Karachi 75270, Pakistan
e-mail: farhanchemist@hotmail.com;
farhanchemist@gmail.com
M. H. Zuberi
Department of Environmental Studies, Sindh Madressatul
Islam University, Karachi, Pakistan
U. Haroon
Department of Chemistry, Federal Urdu University
for Arts, Science and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan
N. Sultana
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy,
University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan
and 2.5–250 lgmL-1 for the ACE inhibitors, where it
demonstrated good linearity with r = 0.9998, 0.9979,
0.9997, and 0.9987 (n = 6), respectively. The developed
method was successfully applied to quantitate metformin,
lisinopril, captopril, and enalapril in pharmaceutical formulations and human serum.
Keywords Metformin Captopril Enalapril
Lisinopril ACE inhibitors and RP-HPLC
Introduction
Diabetes mellitus and hypertension are the most common
diseases of this era. Patients with diabetes have a much
higher rate of hypertension than would be expected in the
general population.
The inhibitors of the angiotensin-converting enzyme are
widely used for the treatment of mild-to-moderate hypertension and heart failure, either alone or in conjunction with other
drugs (Cocolas et al., 1998). Reduction in blood pressure helps
to prevent diabetic complications. Barring contraindications,
angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (Fig. 1) are
considered first-line therapy as they provide additional benefits (Vaughan et al., 1997; Pasquale et al., 1997).
Metformin (MF) 1,1-Dimethylbiguanide (Fig. 1) is the
drug of choice for treating type 2 diabetes, particularly obese patients. It helps to reduce LDL cholesterol and
triglyceride levels, and may aid in weight loss. In year 2008,
MF is one of the only two oral anti-diabetics in the World
Health Organization Model List of Essential Medicines
(Medicines, 2007). Captopril (CAP) is (2S)-1-[(2S)-2Methyl-3-sulfanylpropanoyl] pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid
(Fig. 1), it is widely prescribed as antihypertensive drug.
Enalapril (ENA), an ACE inhibitor used in the treatment of
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Med Chem Res
CH3
H
N
N
NH2
H 3C
NH
determination of these drugs in pharmaceutical formulation and in human serum. Robust studies were completed to
insure continuous performance of the methods in diverse
analytical environments.
NH
Metformin
Experimental
COOH
O
Chemicals and reagents
N
HS
H
CH 3
Captopril
H 3C
O
O
HOOC
CH 3
N
N
H
O
Enalapril
MF hydrochloride (NeodiparÒ 250 mg), CAP (CaprilÒ 5 mg),
LIS (LameÒ 5 mg), and ENA (CortecÒ 5 mg) reference
standards were kindly supplied by Sonaphy Aventis Limited,
Efroze Chemical industries (Pvt.) Ltd., Atco Laboratories
(Pvt.) Ltd., and Nabi Qasim Industries (Pvt.) Ltd., respectively,
and tablets were purchased from local market. Analytical
grade phosphoric acid (85 % pure), and HPLC grade methanol
were purchased from Merck Marker Ltd. Water was bi-distilled and deionized by Stedec CSW-300. Drug-free human
serum was obtained from the National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, Karachi, Pakistan (NICVD).
Instrumentation and chromatographic conditions
Lisinopril
Fig. 1 Chemical structures of Metformin and ACE inhibitors
hypertension and some types of chronic heart failure is (2S)1-[(2S)-2-{[(2S)-1-ethoxy-1-oxo-4-phenylbutan-2-yl]
amino}propanoyl]pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid (Fig. 1).
ENA was the first member of the group of ACE inhibitors
having two carboxylic acid groups attached. Lisinopril (LIS)
(2S)-1-[(2S)-6-Amino-2-[[(1S)-1-carboxy-3-phenylpropyl]
amino]hexanoyl]pyrrolidine-2- carboxylic acid (Fig. 1) is
an orally active ACE inhibitor effective in lowering blood
pressure, renovascular hypertension and congestive heart
failure. It is a lysine analog of enalaprilat Lancaster and
Todd, 1998) and is not significantly metabolized in humans
and is excreted unchanged in urine. The literature survey
revealed few analytical reports for the analysis of these
drugs individually (European Pharmacopoeia, 2001;
Amini et al., 1999; Bahmaei et al., 1997; Hillaert and
Bossche, 1999; Huang et al., 2006; Shimada et al., 1982;
Tajerzadeh and Hamidi, 2001; Anzenbacherová et al.,
2001; United States Pharmacopoeia, 2006; Al-Momani,
2001; Dinç et al., 2005; Wong and Charles, 1995; Sagirli
and Ersoy, 2004; Najma et al., 2011; Arayne et al., 2010,
2009). Since MF and ACE inhibitors are generally coprescribed drugs, no chromatographic method reported for
their simultaneous determination and quantitation. The
focus of the present work described herein was to develop
selective and sensitive HPLC methods for the
123
The liquid chromatographic system consisted of Shimadzu
model LC-10 AT VP pump, Rheodyne manual injector fitted
with a 20 lL loop, a Shimadzu model SPD-20AV variable
wavelength UV–Visible detector (Shimadzu Corporation,
Kyoto, Japan). Chromatographic system was integrated via
Shimadzu model CBM-102 Communication Bus Module.
Analysis was performed on a PurospherÒ Star RP-18 endcapped (25 cm 9 4.6 mm id) analytical reversed phase
column. Class GC-10 software was used for data acquisition.
The mobile phase consisted of methanol–water 50:50
(v/v), pH was adjusted to 3.2 with phosphoric acid (85 %)
and 60:40 (v/v) as diluent. Prior to delivering into the
system, it was filtered through 0.45 lm filter and degassed
using an ultrasonic bath. The analysis was carried out under
isocratic conditions using a flow rate of 1.0 mL min-1 at
room temperature. Chromatograms were recorded at
218 nm (isobestic point) was considered satisfactory, permitting the detection of all drugs with adequate sensitivity.
Method validation
Development of optimum mobile phase
In order to develop an RP-HPLC method initially, different
ratios of methanol, acetonitrile, and water were investigated for simultaneous estimation of MF and ACEI (CAP,
ENA, and LIS). The best separation was obtained at mobile
phase composition of methanol and water 50:50 (v/v) with
a pH 3.2 (± 0.2) and 60:40 (v/v) as diluent. Flow rate
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Med Chem Res
Stock solutions of MF 100 lgmL-1 were prepared by
dissolving 10 mg of active drug in 100 mL flask and
250 lgmL-1 of ACE inhibitors (CAP, ENA and LIS) by
dissolving 25 mg in 100-mL flask. These solutions were
sequentially diluted to give working solution at concentrations in the ranges 1.25–25.0 lgmL-1 for MF and
12.5–250 lgmL-1 for ACEIs with diluent (60:40 v/v) for
preparation of calibration curves.
is the most simple and precise among other reported
methods. This system is quite robust. Other ODS columns
and chromatographic systems have been tested with minimal effect on the resolution of the analytes. PurospherÒ
Star RP-18 endcapped (25 cm 9 4.6 mm id) column is
recommended because it demonstrated ruggedness and
reproducibility in this assay. A typical reference chromatogram, MF and ACEIs (LIS, CAP, ENA and its
degraded product (ENA diketopiperazine) of pure standard
mixture using PurospherÒ Star RP-18 endcapped
(250 mm 9 4.6 mm) column at flow rate 1.0 mL min-1, is
shown in Fig. 2. The optimum wavelength selected was
218.0 nm at which much better detector response for each
drug was obtained. The retention times for the investigated
drugs (pharmaceutical formulations) were found to be MF
2.24, LIS 2.63, ENA (d) 3.82, ENA 4.28, and CAP
4.78 min. Typical chromatograms are shown in Fig. 3
pharmaceutical formulation, Fig. 4 human serum containing all the drugs and Fig. 5 blank human serum.
Preparation of formulation samples
Linearity and calibration curve
Individual tablets (10 each) were pulverized using a mortar
and pestle, and completely transferred to a 100-mL conical
flask. The volume was adjusted with diluent and the flask
was mechanically shaken for 5 min. Stock solutions were
sequentially diluted to give working solution at concentrations in the ranges 1.25–25.0 lgmL-1 for MF and
12.5–250 lgmL-1 for ACE inhibitor. The samples were
filtered through a 0.45-lm membrane filter. The amount of
MF and ACE inhibitors per tablet was calculated from the
related linear regression equations.
The linearity of the method was determined using of MF
and ACE inhibitors standard solutions in the presence of
human serum at five concentration levels in the range of
1.25–25.0 and 12.5–250 lgmL-1, respectively (n = 3).
Least-square regression calibration curves were constructed by plotting mean peak areas of MfCl and ACEIs as
a function of the drug concentration in the standard
working solution. The linearity and regression calibration
selection was based on peak parameters (height, asymmetry, tailing), baseline drift and run time. Internal standard
was not used, as there was no extraction in the simultaneous determination of MF and ACE inhibitors in human
serum and in pharmaceutical dosage forms. Individual drug
solutions (100 lgmL-1) were injected into the sample loop
of 20 lL. Elution pattern and resolution parameters were
studied as a function of pH.
Standard solution preparations
Preparation of serum sample
The Plasma samples were stored in the freezer at -14 °C and
allowed to thaw at room temperature before processing. The
plasma samples were centrifuged at 3,000 rpm for 6–7 min.
An aliquot (1.0 mL) was pipetted into a 10-mL polypropylene
test tube and acetonitrile (2.0 mL). The mixture was vortex
mixed briefly, and after standing for 5 min at room temperature, the mixture was centrifuged at 3,000 rpm for 5 min.
The supernatant obtained was filtered through a 0.45 lm filter. Serum thus obtained was mixed in the ratio of 1:1 with
drug solutions and was then injected into the HPLC system.
Results and discussion
Specificity and robustness
The proposed LC method for the simultaneous determination of MF and ACEI in human serum and dosage forms
Fig. 2 Typical chromatogram of 1 Metformin, 2 lisinopril, 3
enalapril diketopiperazine, 4 enalapril, and 5 captopril
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Med Chem Res
Fig. 5 Typical chromatogram of drug-free human serum
Fig. 3 Typical chromatogram of 1 Metformin, 2 lisinopril, 3
enalapril diketopiperazine, 4 enalapril, and 5 captopril in dosage
formulation
to the true value and the precision as the degree of that
similarity (ICH Guideline, 2005; Green, 1996). Reproducibility of the method was performed as inter-day and
intra-day accuracy and precision in pharmaceutical dosage
forms by injecting six replicates of three concentrations
(80, 100, and 120 %) into the system. Coefficient of variance (CV) and percentage recovery of each drug were also
evaluated as shown in Table 3.
Recovery studies
To study the interference of formulation additives, analytical percent recovery experiment was performed by
adding known amounts of pure drug to the pre-analyzed
samples of commercial dosage forms (Table 4). The percent analytical recovery values were calculated as follows:
% Recovery ¼ ½ðCv Cu Þ=Ca 100;
Fig. 4 Typical chromatogram of 1 Metformin, 2 lisinopril, 3
enalapril diketopiperazine, 4 enalapril, and 5 captopril in human
serum
where Cv was the total drug concentration measured after
standard addition, Cu, drug concentration in the formulation and Ca was the drug concentration added to the formulation. Precision and accuracy for all the drugs were
performed separately in the presence of excipients and
formulations.
curves equation are represented in Tables 1 and 2,
respectively.
Limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation
(LOQ)
Accuracy and precision
The limits of Detection (LOD) and Quantitation (LOQ)
were calculated in accordance with the 3.3(r/s) and 10(r/s)
criteria respectively, where r is the standard deviation of
the peak area (for six replicates) for the sample and s is the
The accuracy of an analytical method is defined as the
similarity of the results obtained by the analytical method
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Table 1 Linearity of MF and ACE inhibitors by proposed method
Injected
Concentration
(lgmL-1)
Recovered
Concentration
(lgmL-1)
% Recovery
%
RSD
n=6
Table 2 Statistical regression analysis of metformin and ACE
inhibitors
Drugs
Raw material
Human Serum
Regression
equation
Lisinopril
R
2
R2
Regression
equation
12.5
12.62
100.96
1.34
Metformin 20,085x ? 4,150.4 0.9994 20,337x ? 1,406.4 0.9997
25
25.49
101.96
1.76
Lisinopril
8,285.6x -3,307.7 0.9996 8,286x - 8,867.1
0.9985
50
49.2
98.4
0.89
Enalapril
4,186x ? 3,072.5
0.9999
100
101.2
101.2
1.05
Captopril
3,515.4x - 828.47 0.9998 3,508x ? 1,252.4
150
200
148.3
197.8
98.86
98.9
0.64
0.97
250
251.8
100.72
1.11
92.96
1.34
Table 3 Accuracy and precision in pharmaceutical formulations
97.76
0.57
Concentrations (lgmL-1)
0.9999 4,195x - 687
x is the concentration of MF and ACEIs in lgmL
area ratio
-1
0.9999
and y is the peak
Enalapril
12.5
11.62
25
24.44
50
51.2
100
98.66
150
148.95
99.3
0.47
Metformin
200
199.3
99.65
1.08
250
251.8
100.72
1.29
102.4
98.66
12.62
25
50
Recovery (%)
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
8.00
0.75
1.11
1.02
100.53
10.00
0.98
0.99
0.89
99.96
12.00
1.09
0.85
0.74
99.60
1.34
Captopril
12.5
CV (n = 6)
0.82
100.96
1.44
Captopril
24.95
99.8
0.96
80.00
0.61
1.67
1.45
98.63
50.38
100.76
0.84
100
150
100.88
151.1
100.88
100.73
1.52
1.05
100.00
120.00
0.94
0.73
1.15
1.44
1.62
1.81
99.88
102.36
Enalapril
200
200.9
100.45
0.46
80.00
1.23
1.98
2.30
99.56
250
248.9
99.56
0.91
100.00
0.86
0.76
1.79
101.13
120.00
0.91
1.34
1.99
98.92
Metformin
1.25
1.28
102.4
0.91
5.5
5.42
98.54
1.24
80.00
1.44
1.52
2.59
102.88
5
4.87
97.4
1.32
100.00
1.99
1.07
1.31
100.06
10
9.92
99.2
1.47
120.00
0.88
0.97
1.69
99.38
15
14.56
97.06
1.84
20
20.51
102.55
0.66
25
24.38
97.52
0.72
slope obtained from calibration curve equation (ICH
Guideline, 2005; Green, 1996). Using the parameters
mentioned above, LOD and LOQ were estimated to be
0.028, 0.044, 0.20, and 0.145 lgmL-1 while LOQ were
0.085, 0.136, 0.60, and 0.441 lgmL-1 for MF, LIS, ENA,
and CAP respectively.
Application to human serum
A spiked serum sample with MF and ACEIs corresponding
to the intermediate concentration level of the calibration
points was prepared by adding 4 mL of the drug solution
containing MF (10 lgmL-1) and ACEI (100 lgmL-1) to
Lisinopril
4 mL of drug-free human serum. This spiked serum was
made up to 10 mL with diluent. No interference was
observed in the analysis as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.
Conclusion
The proposed method, in addition to its novelty for determining four active ingredients at single wavelength is
sufficiently rapid, simple, sensitive as well as precise and
accurate that complies with the ICH guidelines [22]. Low
LOD 0.028, 0.044, 0.20, and 0.145 lgmL-1 for MF, LIS,
ENA, and CAP, respectively, were obtained. No interference of extra pharmaceutical ingredients and human serum
was observed in the assay and was successfully applied in
raw materials and pharmaceutical formulations. Linearity,
accuracy, precision, limit of detection and quantification,
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Table 4 Recovery of metformin and ACE inhibitors (standard
addition method)
Concentration
of drug in
formulations
(lgmL-1)
Concentration Total
C.V.
of drug added concentration
(lgmL-1)
of drug found
(lgmL-1)
%
Analytical
recovery
Metformin
5
10
14.88
0.1356 102.93
10
10
20.17
0.5256
99.64
15
10
25.04
0.4545
99.86
0.3984
99.66
Captopril
50
100
99.8
100
100
200.11
1.1057 100.11
150
100
251.85
0.6832
50
100
100
100
100.66
200.25
0.2703 101.32
0.8667 100.25
150
100
248.77
1.1426
50
100
100.95
0.2202 101.9
100
100
199.65
1.8885
99.65
150
100
249.85
1.8757
99.9
98.99
Enalapril
99.18
Lisinopril
and specificity were established. In addition to the analysis
of these drugs, this rapid and reproducible analytical
method is suitable for dissolution studies and could also be
used for pharmacokinetic studies conducted in humans as
they are prescribed simultaneously to patients of diabetes
and hypertension.
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