Rapid Determination of Content of Etoricoxib in Pharmaceutical Formulations by Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy

Abstract

The present paper is an attempt to highlight a new technique FTIR-ATR along with its referenced validated method, UV spectrophotometric analysis. Different concentrations of etoricoxib were used as samples to draw standard plot. From different samples, a transmission spectrum was recorded according to the prominence of peaks. The present study has chosen the three most prominent peaks for analytical purpose in case of samples of etoricoxib and marketed formulations. All the experimental data obtained was subjected to statistical analysis, using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple linear regression analysis to obtain quantitative information. ANOVA one-way was applied to FTIR-ATR data of pure drug etoricoxib to build calibration of data (standard plot), which enabled prediction of etoricoxib amount in pharmaceutical formulations A and B, p < 0.001. The results obtained by FTIR-ATR method were validated by using reference UV spectrophotometric method by t-test paired (α = 0.5%) and Scheffe test (homogenous subsets). The finding of the study inferred that FTIR-ATR provides a high-performance approach for etoricoxib quantitative determination in order to check the label-claimed content in different pharmaceutical formulations within the stipulated analytical limits of 90 mg ± 10%. From the above analysis, we can say that the amount of drug present in different formulations obtained from FTIR-ATR method is same as that of UV-spectrophotometric analysis (validation method). Also, the concentration transmittance value (log I_O/I_T) changes linearly and follows Lambert-Beer law. The analytical procedure is simple, rapid, non-destructive and easy to use as it requires no sample pretreatment and reagent-free measurement. Great precision is needed because of quality control in pharmaceutical industry as it constitutes a powerful alternative to separative method for quality control analysis of pharmaceuticals. Further, it adds an advantage in analyzing formulations containing rapid-absorption drug.

Keywords: UV spectrophotometric analysis, transmission spectrum, linearity of data, quality control analysis, formulations, quantitative determination