A simplified and rapid high-performance liquid chromatographic assay for ketoprofen in isopropyl myristate

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) procedure for quantitating ketoprofen in isopropyl myristate (IPM), a compound widely used as a receptor medium in drug diffusion studies of topical aqueous-based formulations, is developed. Previously reported HPLC assays for ketoprofen in IPM have employed relatively complex and tedious methods for purifying the IPM prior to injection onto the HPLC column. The present assay method utilizes a direct injection of the IPM-based sample onto a new reversed-phase ODS column and employs ultraviolet detection at 265 nm. Propyl paraben is employed as the internal standard. The mobile phase consists of acetonitrile-methanol-water (36:54:10, v/v/v) at a flow rate of 1.2 mL/min. The calibration curves are linear (correlation coefficient r > or = 0.988) over concentration ranges of 0.625-10 micrograms/mL and 6.25-100 micrograms/mL. The within-day and between-day precision exhibit coefficients of variation of 1.3-3.3%, and the accuracy (reported as relative error of the mean) varies from -1.9% to 0.6%. The retention times for ketoprofen and propyl paraben are approximately 2.3 and 3.3 min, respectively. The total run time per sample is approximately 7 min. The minimum quantitatable concentration is approximately 0.625 microgram/mL. The assay is stability-indicating, rapid, reproducible, sensitive, and readily adaptable for assaying other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.