Gradient HPLC-DAD stability indicating determination of miconazole nitrate and lidocaine hydrochloride in their combined oral gel dosage form.

The pharmaceutical combination of miconazole nitrate (MZ) and lidocaine hydrochloride (LD) is used in the curative and prophylactic therapy of the oral and gastro-intestinal infections caused by Candida albicans. To the best of our knowledge, no attempts have yet been made to assay this combination by any analytical method. A simple and selective high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) stability-indicating method was developed for the simultaneous determination of MZ and LD in their combined formulation. Effective chromatographic separation was achieved using a Zorbax SB-C8 column with gradient elution of the mobile phase composed of 0.05 M phosphoric acid and acetonitrile. The gradient elution started with 25% (by volume) acetonitrile, ramped up linearly to 65% in 6 min, then kept constant until the end of the run. The mobile phase was pumped at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The multiple wavelength detector was set at 215 nm and analytes were quantified by measuring their peak areas. The retention times for LD and MZ were approximately 4.1 and 8.4 min, respectively. The reliability and analytical performance of the proposed HPLC procedure were statistically validated with respect to linearity, ranges, precision, accuracy, selectivity, robustness, detection and quantification limits. Calibration curves were linear in the ranges of 5-100 µg/ml for both drugs with correlation coefficients > 0.999. Both drugs were subjected to stress conditions of hydrolysis, oxidation, photolysis and thermal degradation. The proposed method proved to be stability-indicating by the resolution of the two analytes from the related substance and potential impurity (2,6-dimethylaniline) and from the forced-degradation products. The validated HPLC method was applied to the analysis of MZ and LD in the combined oral gel preparation, in which the two analytes were successfully quantified and resolved from the pharmaceutical additives. The proposed method made use of DAD as a tool for peak identity and purity confirmation.