High-performance liquid chromatography of lactose with evaporative light scattering detection, applied to determine fine particle dose of carrier in dry powder inhalation products.

A method for quantification of the fine particle dose of lactose is described, using a hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) method and evaporative light scattering detection. The HILIC method used an aminopropyl column and a mobile phase consisting of acetonitril/water (80/20, v/v) for isocratic elution. Sensitive chromatography was obtained using a low concentration of water in the extraction solvent. The detection limit (RSD<10%) at an injection volume of 10 microL is 10 microg/mL. Linearity was obtained in the range of 10-80 microg/mL (R(2)>0.99). A relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.5% (N=6) demonstrated good precision of the optimized method.