Design, optimization, and validation of chemometrics-assisted spectrophotometric methods for simultaneous determination of etodolac and thiocolchicoside in pharmaceuticals

Abstract

Etodolac (ET) is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that shows anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antipyretic activities. Various NSAIDs have been demonstrated to enhance analgesia such as thiocolchicoside (TC) which is also an anti-inflammatory analgesic with muscle relaxant properties. A new quantitative method by using the data obtained from chemometrics calibration partial least squares (PLS), principal component regression (PCR), and inverse least squares (ILS) was developed for the simultaneous analysis of ET and TC without any separation process in combined pharmaceutical products. The calibration (25 samples) and validation (8 samples) concentration data matrices were prepared by using the mixtures containing ET (15–75 μg/mL) and TC (1–10 μg/mL) via factorial design method. The absorbance values were measured in the 240–440 nm. The recovery % of PLS, PCR, and CLS methods were found as ≤ 98.26%, 98.16%, and 98.17% for ET and 99.14%, 98.26%, and 98.15% for TC, respectively. These three chemometric techniques, which do not require neither separation nor derivatization steps, were confidentially applied for the determination of ET and TC in combined formulations. In conclusion, it is claimed that these new chemometrics-assisted spectrophotometric methods are inexpensive, rapid, and simple and can be trustfully carried out in quality control laboratories as an alternative to existing methods.