Development and validation of a high-performance size-exclusion chromatography method for polymer determination in cefmetazole sodium for injection

Abstract

This study aims to develop and validate a high-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) method to determine the amount of polymer in cefmetazole sodium for injection and to compare this method with gel chromatography. A Zenix SEC-150 column was used with the mobile phase of phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.0; 0.01 M)—acetonitrile (90:10 v/v) at a flow rate of 0.8 mL min−1 and a detection wavelength of 240 nm. The polymer was quantified by an external standard method with self-control, and the amount was expressed by the percentage of cefmetazole. The HPSEC method was validated for specificity, linearity, and precision. The chromatographic conditions, chromatographic performances, sensitivity, linearity, and precision of the developed HPSEC method and gel chromatography were compared, and both methods were subsequently used to determine the amount of polymer from seven batches of samples. The HPSEC method was fully validated. The time of isocratic elution for sample assay was less than 14 min. The results of comparison indicate that the developed HPSEC method was superior to gel chromatography. The Student t test results also showed significant difference in the amount of polymer from the samples obtained by the two methods. Thus, the HPSEC method with two obvious advantages, the superior sensitivity and a shorter analysis time, is more suitable for determination of polymer amount in cefmetazole sodium for injection to control the quality of the product.