Simultaneous determination of methylparaben, propylparaben, hydrocortisone acetate and its degradation products in a topical cream by RP-HPLC.

A novel reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method with UV spectrophotometric detection was developed and validated for the determination of compounds in topical cream. The method describes determination of active component hydrocortisone acetate (HCA), its degradation products hydrocortisone (HC) and cortisone acetate (occurring in formulation after long-term stability tests) and two preservatives presented in the cream-methylparaben and propylparaben, using dexamethasone as an internal standard. The chromatographic separation was performed on a 5 microm SUPELCO Discovery C18 125 x 4-mm ID column. The optimised mobile phase for separation of all the compounds consists of methanol, acetonitrile and water (15:27:58, v/v/v), with the analysis time less than 13 min. The method was applicable for routine analysis (assays and stability tests) of active compound HCA, preservatives and degradation products in pharmaceutical product--topical cream Hydrocortizone cream 1%.