Validated Stability-Indicating RP-HPLC Method for Simultaneous Determination of Clorsulon and Ivermectin Employing Plackett-Burman Experimental Design for Robustness Testing

Abstract

Abstract A sensitive and highly selective stability-indicating gradient HPLC method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of clorsulon (CLO) and ivermectin (IVM) in the presence of their degradation products. The drugs were subjected to different stress conditions, including acid and alkaline hydrolysis, oxidative, thermal, and photolytic forced degradation. The robustness of the proposed method was assessed using the Plackett-Burman experimental design, the factors affecting system performance were defined, and nonsignificant intervals for the significant factors were determined. The separation was carried out on a ZORBAX SB phenyl analytical column (250 × 4.6 mm id, 5 μm particle size), with gradient elution utilizing 10 mM sodium dihydrogen phosphate and acetonitrile as mobile phase. UV detection was performed for CLO and IVM at 254 nm over a concentration range of 4–140 and 5–50 μg/mL, respectively, with mean percentage recoveries of 99.90 ± 1.30 and 98.59 ± 1.16%, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to a pharmaceutical dosage form containing the investigated drugs. The results were statistically compared with the official HPLC methods, and no significant differences were found.