Development and validation of method for the simultaneous determination of sulfamethazine, trimethoprim and doxycycline in veterinary formulation using high performance liquid chromatography

Sulfamethazine (SMZ), trimethoprim (TMP) and doxycycline (DOXY) are drugs of choice used in the treatment of intestinal and respiratory infections that affect poultry and swine. The aim of this study was develop and validate a simple, sensitive and fast method for the simultaneous determination of SMZ, TMP and DOXY in veterinary formulations by high-performance liquid chromatography. The separation was performed on a Macherey-Nagel C-8 analytical column (4 x 125 mm, 5 mu m), with a flow rate of 0.5 ml min(-1) and detection at 268, 270 and 350 nm, for SMZ, TMP and DOXY, respectively. All measurements were performed in acetonitrile-water (45:55 v/v; pH 3.0). The analytical curves were linear (r > 0.9997) in the concentration range of 5.0-35.0 mu g ml(-1) for SMZ, 1.0-7.0 mu g ml(-1) for TMP and 7.0-13.0 mu g ml(-1) for DOXY. The method proved to be precise, robust, accurate and selective. In accelerated stability, the sample was analyzed for 6 months, with no major variations observed in organoleptic analysis and pH. Therefore, the developed method was proved to be suitable for routine quality control analyses for the simultaneous determination of SMZ, TMP and DOXY in pharmaceutical formulations.