Development and Validation of a Pre-Column Derivatization HPLC Method for the Assay of Amikacin Sulfate in Pure and Parenteral Dos age Forms

Background: Amikacin sulfate (AMK) belongs to the class of aminoglycoside antibiotics. It is effective against the infections caused by Gram-negative and positive bacteria. AMK lacks a chromophore group in its structure and, therefore, it does not absorb light in the 200-800 nm region which makes it a difficult molecule to analyze by UV detector using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Objective: This study has been carried out to develop and validate a relatively simple, accurate, precise, rapid, economical, and stability-indicating pre-column derivatization HPLC method for the determination of AMK in pure and parenteral dosage forms. Methods: The stock solution of AMK was derivatized prior to its analysis. The mobile phase used for the analysis was acetonitrile and water in the ratio of 50: 50 (v/v) at pH 6.0. The method has been validated according to the guideline of International Council for Harmonization (ICH) and different parameters such as linearity, range, accuracy, precision, sensitivity, robustness, solution stability, specificity and system suitability have been studied. AMK was subjected to stress degradation studies including thermolysis, humidity exposure, acid-base hydrolysis, and oxidation in order to determine the specificity of the test method. Results: The retention time of AMK has been found to be 4.7 min. The results indicated that the method is linear in the concentration range of 12.5-125% and possesses high accuracy (99.88 +/- 0.42%), precision (<1.2%) and robustness (<0.5%). The obtained results are compared statistically with a reference method. Conclusion: It was observed that the stress degradation studies do not affect the accuracy of the method. Hence the proposed method can be used for the assay of AMK and its parenteral dosage form.