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The in vitro dissolution of albendazole from three different commercially available products (200 mg tablets) was studied using U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) Apparatus 2 and USP Apparatus 4 in order to compare the release performance of the drug in two essentially different dissolution systems. For both cases, 0.1 N HCl was used as dissolution medium. Only the reference product and one of the generic products studied met the 80% USP 24 specification for albendazole dissolved at 30 min, using USP Apparatus 2. Although the reference product reached 80% of albendazole dissolved at 30 min when Apparatus 4 was used, the generic products' dissolution performance was markedly reduced in this system. Though dissolution rate was slower using Apparatus 4, the total quantity of albendazole dissolved from the reference product, represented by area under the dissolution profile, was practically the same regardless of the system used. Dissolution kinetics of albendazole was adequately described by Weibull's function for all the products. The dissolution time (t(d)) derived from data fitting to this function showed significant differences among the products studied. Data analysis based on analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed nonequivalence among the dissolution profiles of generic products compared with the reference product either with the dissolution vessel system or the flow-through cell, as well as nonequivalence among the dissolution profiles using both apparatuses with the same product. Though differences in the dissolution profiles for generic products against the reference product in both systems were found, USP Apparatus 4 showed higher discriminative capacity in differentiating the release characteristics of the products tested.

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A fast and reproducible high-performance liquid chromatography method has been developed for the determination of (R)- and (S)-ketoprofen. Ketoprofen enantiomers were determined in plasma samples (50 µL), after solid-phase extraction, using diclofenac as internal standard. Analyses were performed on a (S, S)-Whelk-O 1 stainless steel column (5 µm, 250 × 4.6 mm) using hexane-ethanol-acetic acid (93:7:0.5, v/v/v) as the mobile phase and detection at 254 nm. The method was selective for ketoprofen enantiomers in the presence of caffeine and endogenous plasma compounds. Standard curves were linear (R(2) > 0.999) over the concentration range of 0.25-12.50 and 0.25 µg/mL was taken as the limit of quantification. The intra- and interday precision (relative standard deviation) values were <15.0% and the accuracy (relative error) was within ±12.0% at 1.0, 5.0 and 10.0 µg/mL. Enantiomer recoveries yielded 100.0 ± 15%. No significant differences were determined in plasma samples stored at room temperature for 24.0 h, after two freeze-thaw cycles, and between 0 and 4 weeks at -20°C (P > 0.05). The validated method was successfully applied in determination of (S)-ketoprofen in Wistar rats after oral administration of 3.2 mg/kg of (S)-ketoprofen alone or 3.2 mg/kg of (S)-ketoprofen + 17.8 mg/kg of caffeine.

Preclinical Research The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antinociceptive activity of the main metamizol (MET) metabolites, 4‐methylaminoantipyrine (MAA), 4‐aminoantipyrine (AA), 4‐formylaminoantipyrine (FAA), and 4‐acetylaminoantipyrine (AAA) using the “pain‐induced functional impairment in rat” model (PIFIR model). The antinociceptive efficacies of MAA and AA were 288.3% h and 281.1% h, respectively, close to the efficacy of MET (333.80% h). The effective dose to attain 50% of the maximum response (ED50) values for MET, MAA and AA were 126.1, 124.9, and 110.7 mg/kg, respectively. FAA and AAA were essentially inactive in this experimental model. Part of the antinociceptive effect showed by MET in this study might be attributed to the effect of the metabolites MAA and AA on cyclooxygenases COX‐1 and COX‐2 activity.

We describe the use of immobilized deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in a silica matrix as a biorecognition agent for the detection of albendazole sulfoxide (ASU), the primary metabolite of albendazole and a suspected teratogenic and embryotoxic agent. The biomaterial (DNA-containing gel) was synthesized by physical entrapment of salmon sperm in an inorganic silicate matrix by the sol-gel method. Functionality of the DNA-containing gel was evaluated by comparative offline frontal chromatography followed by HPLC analysis of ASU and caffeine (CAF, control) using DNA-containing gel and DNA-free gel. The DNA-containing gel showed relatively high specific retention for ASU, while CAF showed no retention using frontal analysis. We anticipate that the DNA-containing gel can be implemented to identify the interactions of DNA with other active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and their metabolites in a readily available, sensitive and selective frontal chromatography experiment.

Objective: The aim of this work was to evaluate the pharmaceutical equivalence of metronidazole tablets through the study of hydrodynamics of the flow-through cell (USP Apparatus 4) on the dissolution performance of four commercial formulations (500 mg). The results were compared with those found using the USP basket apparatus. Methods: Experiments were performed with 0.1 N hydrochloric acid (pH 1.2), acetate buffer pH 4.5 and phosphate buffer pH 6.8. A USP Apparatus 4 was used with laminar flow at 16 ml/min and 22.6-mm cells. USP basket apparatus was used with 900 ml of each dissolution medium. The dissolution profiles were compared in terms of the mean dissolution time and dissolution efficiency. Results: Significant differences in MDT and DE values of generic formulations vs. reference with both USP apparatuses were found (*P<0.05) hence, dissolution profiles of metronidazole generic formulations cannot be considered similar to the dissolution profile of the reference. After using some equations to explain the release performance of metronidazole, dissolution data were well adjusted to Peppas-Sahlin and logistic models when the flow-through cell was used. Conclusion: The main problem found with the studied formulations was that generic drug products showed different dissolution performances than the reference, and they did not meet the biowaiver criteria for either class I or class III drugs; therefore, they cannot be considered therapeutic equivalents.