Validation of a liquid chromatographic method for determination of tacrolimus in pharmaceutical dosage forms

An accurate, simple, and reproducible liquid chromatographic method was developed and validated for the determination of tacrolimus in capsules. The analysis is performed at room temperature on a reversed-phase C18 column with UV detection at 210 nm. The mobile phase is methanol-water (90 + 10) at a constant flow rate of 0.8 mL/min. The method was validated in terms of linearity, precision, accuracy, and specificity by forced decomposition of tacrolimus, using acid, base, water, hydrogen peroxide, heat, and light. The response was linear in the range of 0.09-0.24 mg/mL (r2 = 0.9997). The relative standard deviation values for intra- and interday precision studies were 1.28 and 2.91%, respectively. Recoveries ranged from 98.06 to 102.52%.