A derivative spectrophotometric method was validated for quantification of acyclovir in poly (n-butylcyanoacrylate) (PBCA) nanoparticles. Specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, recovery, detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) limits were established for method validation. First-derivative at 295.2 nm eliminated interferences from nanoparticle ingredients and presented linearity for acyclovir concentrations ranging from 1.25 to 40.0 µg/mL (r = 0.9999). Precision and accuracy data demonstrated good reproducibility. Recovery ranged from 99.3 to 101.2. LOD was 0.08 µg/mL and LOQ, 0.25 µg/mL. Thus, the proposed method proved to be easy, low cost, and accurate, and therefore, an useful alternative to quantify acyclovir in nanoparticles.

A maioria dos agentes terapêuticos, freqüentemente prescritos, é formulada e comercializada sob a forma racêmica, embora, para alguns deles, já tenha sido demonstrado que os efeitos farmacológicos e/ou tóxicos estejam relacionados apenas a um dos enantiômeros. Além disso, é conhecido o fato de que os enantiômeros podem apresentar perfis farmacocinéticos e farmacodinâmicos diferentes. Neste trabalho foram selecionados compostos que fazem parte de um importante grupo de fármacos muito empregados na terapêutica. São fármacos freqüentemente prescritos em doenças cardiovasculares. As separações enantioméricas diretas do atenolol, betaxolol, metoprolol e nadolol foram obtidas utilizando-se fase estacionária quiral do tipo carbamato de celulose tris-3,5-dimetilfenil, Chiralcel OD®, (250 x 4.6 mm, 10 µm). Os enantiômeros do pindolol foram separados com fase estacionária quiral derivada de dinitrobenzoil (DNB), a-Burke 2®, (250 x 4.6 mm, 10 µm). Os fármacos foram cromatografados à temperatura ambiente, com volume de injeção de 20 µL. A detecção foi efetuada em 276 nm exceto para o pindolol, que foi detectado em 220 nm. Os métodos propostos neste trabalho empregando CLAE-FEQs oferecem vantagens sobre as técnicas clássicas de separação de enantiômeros e podem ser empregados na análise quantitativa dos enantiômeros em preparações farmacêuticas e amostras biológicas.

The majority of frequently prescribed therapeutic agents are formulated and commercialized in the racemic form, even though, for some of them, it has already been demonstrated that the pharmacological and/or toxicological effects are associated only with one of the enantiomers. Moreover, it is well known that these antipodes can present different pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles. In this work we selected drugs that belong to an important group of pharmaceuticals, frequently prescribed in the treatment of cardiovascular disorders. The direct enantiomeric separations of atenolol, betaxolol, metoprolol and nadolol were obtained using the chiral stationary phase cellulose tris-3,5-dimethylphenyl-carbamate, Chiralcel OD® (250 x 4,6 mm, 10 µm). The enantiomers of pindolol were separated with the chiral stationary phase derived from dinitro-benzoyl (DNB) (S, S) alpha-Burke 2® (250x4.6 mm, 10 µm). The drugs were chromatographed at room temperature, with injection volumes of 20 µL. The detention was made at 276 nm except for pindolol, which was detected at 220 nm. The proposed methods in this work using HPLC-CSP offer advantages over contemporaneous techniques of enantiomeric separation, being rapid and efficient, and can be used in the simultaneous quantitative analysis of referred enantiomers in pharmaceutical preparations and biological samples.