Evaluation of the stability of gentamicin in different antibiotic carriers using a validated MEKC method

The quality control of gentamicin in different antibiotic carriers, using MEKC as stability-indicating method is described. Baseline separations of gentamicin C1, C1a, C2, C2a and C2b and, furthermore the impurities and degradation products garamin (GARA), 2-deoxy-streptamine (DSA) and sisomicin (SISO) were achieved with a background electrolyte containing 20 mM deoxycholic acid, 15 mM β-cyclodextrin and 100 mM tetraborate (pH 10.0). After derivatization with o-phthaldialdehyde reagent (OPA), UV detection at 340 nm was possible. The method was validated with respect to selectivity, limit of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) of the impurities, linearity, accuracy, precision and robustness. Evaluation of four different antibiotic carriers stored under stability conditions according to the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines and older pharmaceutical formulations disclosed good stability.