Analysis of hydrocortisone acetate ointments and creams by high-performance liquid chromatography

High-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) methods for the analysis of hydrocortisone containing ointments and creams have been investigated. A method which uses a silica column and involves a minimum of sample pre-treatment has been shown to compare favourably with the triphenyltetrazolim chloride method of the British Pharmacopoeia. For hydrocortisone ointments the HPLC procedure provides results of equivalent precision and has advantages with respect to the time taken for each analysis and specificity. Application of the method to the analysis of hydrocortisone creams has been explored and the deviation between the HPLC and colorimetric method requires further investigation.