SIMPLE AND RAPID HPLC METHOD FOR SIMULTANEOUS QUANTIFICATION OF LEVODOPA AND CARBIDOPA IN A FAST DISINTEGRATING TABLET FORMULATION
Objective: Fast disintegrating tablets (FDTs) are found helpful in dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing) especially in Parkinson patients. Levodopa is still the first choice in Parkinson disease treatment and is co-administered by carbidopa for better efficacy. Methods: In the present study, a rapid and simple isocratic Reverse Phase-High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) method was developed and validated for simultaneous quantification of levodopa and carbidopa in optimized Fast Disintegrating Tablets (FDTs). The linearity, precision, accuracy, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) of the method were determined. FDTs were prepared using direct compression, dry and wet granulation and were optimized for faster disintegration time. Tablets thickness, weight, hardness, friability, drug content and dissolution profile were also evaluated. Results: A RP-HPLC system with C18 column and mobile phase 90:10 (v/v) phosphate buffer: methanol was used. The method linearity was found to be within the concentration range of 3.125-50 μg/ml for levodopa, and 3.125-25 μg/ml for carbidopa. The intra and inter-day precision and accuracy were acceptable. LOD and LOQ of levodopa-carbidopa were 0.2-0.8 μg/ml and 0.5-2.4 μg/ml, respectively. The total chromatographic run time was 5 min. The optimized FDTs hardness was 3.81±0.4 and tablets were disintegrated within 30 sec. Levodopa and carbidopa were dissolved in dissolution media within 5 min. Conclusion: Results indicated that this method was suitable for simultaneous quantification of levodopa and carbidopa in the presence of different ingredients of a pharmaceutical solid dosage form. Therefore, this method could be applied in pharmaceutical quality control for rapid quantification of structurally similar substances with different physicochemical properties.