A Robust HPLC Approach for Quantitation of Camptothecin in Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles Matrix and in the Presence of Its Degradation Products

Background Camptothecin is a potent anti-cancer drug used for the treatment of various cancers. Objective The goal of this research investigation was to develop and validate a new stability indicating HPLC technique for the quantitative assessment of camptothecin in in-house developed mesoporous silica nanoparticles, a novel nanoformulation matrix for the treatment of cancer. Method The Waters Inertsil® HPLC column (C18) was used for the chromatographic separation, with a flow rate of 1 mL/min, a column oven temperature of 40 °C, an injection volume of 10 µL, a detection wavelength of 216 nm, and a 10 min runtime overall. An isocratic blend of phosphate buffer (10 mM, pH7.0) and acetonitrile (60:40 v/v) served as the mobile phase. Various stress conditions including acid, alkali, oxidative, photolytic, thermal, and humidity environments were tested for the quantitative estimation of the camptothecin through the proposed method. Results The results demonstrated that the proposed method is specific (peak purity ≥ 0.999), accurate (99.69—100.64% w/w), precise (%RSD < 2.0), and sensitive (LOD—0.17 µg and LOQ—0.56 µg) in accordance with ICH guideline Q2(R1). Any unidentified degradation products did not interfere with the drug's estimation. Furthermore, the current method of analysis has eliminated any excipient interference from the matrix effect caused by the numerous excipients of the formulation matrix. Conclusions To quantify camptothecin for routine assay purposes, this research work offers a novel and straightforward HPLC methodology with optimized chromatographic parameters, contributing to the research and development community while ensuring an appropriate and efficient use of the drug through a variety of nanoformulation for cancer treatment. Highlights Stability-indicating HPLC method was found to be specific and suitable for routine analysis of camptothecin. The absence of any interference from excipients was confirmed by forced degradation studies.