Development and Validation of a Fast RP-HPLC Method for the Determination of Clobetasol Propionate in Topical Nanocapsule Suspensions

Abstract

A simple and rapid high-performance liquid chromatographic method is validated for the determination of clobetasol propionate in topical nanocapsule suspensions. The method is carried out on an RP-18 column with a mobile phase composed of methanol-water (80:20 v/v) and UV detection at 241 nm. The method validation yields good results with respect to linearity, specificity, precision, accuracy, and robustness. The calibration curve in the range of 5.0-40.0 microg/mL shows a correlation coefficient of 0.9999. Precision (intra-day and inter-day) is demonstrated by a relative standard deviation lower than 1.5%. Accuracy is assessed by the recovery test of clobetasol propionate from sample matrixes (98.33 +/- 0.88%). In conclusion, the method is suitable to be applied to assay clobetasol propionate in topical formulations of polymeric nanocapsules, avoiding the use of a buffer solution in the mobile phase.