Determination of lovastatin and simvastatin in pharmaceutical dosage forms by MEKC

A micellar electrokinetic chromatographic (MEKC) method was developed for the quantification of lovastatin and simvastatin, cholesterol lowering agents in pharmaceutical dosage forms. Lovastatin and simvastatin were separated using an electrolyte system consisting of 12% acetonitrile (v/v) in 25 mM sodium borate buffer pH 9.3 containing 25 mM sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) with an extended light path capillary (48.5 cm x 50 microm i.d, 40 cm to detector). The method has been validated and proven to be rugged. Calibration curves were linear over the studied ranges with correlation coefficients greater than 0.996. A limit of detection of 3.2 microg/ml and a limit of quantitation of 10.6 microg/ml were estimated for both the drugs. The proposed method was found to be suitable and accurate for the determination of these drugs in commercial formulations.