Identification
Place a 2-g quantity of Cream in a conical flask,add 50mLof chloroform and 15g of anhydrous sodium sulfate,and swirl to dissolve the specimen.Filter the solution and clarify the filtrate,if necessary,by the further addition of anhydrous sodium sulfate and a second filtration.Evaporate the filtrate to near dryness,and dissolve the residue in chloroform to obtain a solution containing about 100µg per mL.Apply 10µLof this solution and 10µLof a solution of
USP Triamcinolone Acetonide RSin chloroform containing 100µg per mL,on a line parallel to and about 1.5cm from the bottom edge of a thin-layer chromatographic plate (see
Chromatography á621ñ)coated with a 0.25-mm layer of chromatographic silica gel.Place the plate in a developing chamber containing and equilibrated with a mixture of chloroform,benzene,and methanol (100:40:20).Develop the chromatogram until the solvent front has moved about 12cm above the line of application.Remove the plate,allow the solvent to evaporate,and spray with a mixture of equal volumes of sodium hydroxide solution (1in 5)and a 1in 500solution of blue tetrazolium in methanol:the intensity of the blue color and the
RFof the spot obtained with the solution under test are similar to those of the spot obtained with the Standard solution.
Assay
Mobile phase
Prepare a solution of acetonitrile in water containing approximately 30%(v/v)of acetonitrile.
Internal standard solution
Dissolve fluoxymesterone in isopropyl alcohol to obtain a solution having a concentration of about 50µg per mL.
Standard preparation
Dissolve an accurately weighed quantity of
USP Triamcinolone Acetonide RSin
Internal standard solutionto obtain a solution having a known concentration of about 75µg per mL.Mix an accurately measured volume of the resulting solution with an equal volume of
Mobile phaseto obtain a
Standard preparationcontaining about 37.5µg of
USP Triamcinolone Acetonide RSper mL.
Assay preparation
Transfer an accurately weighed quantity of Cream,equivalent to about 1.5mg of triamcinolone acetonide,to a screw-cap tube.Add 20.0mLof
Internal standard solution,and cap securely.Heat for 5minutes at 60

,then swirl vigorously for not less than 30seconds.Repeat the heating and swirling sequence three times.Cool in a methanol-ice bath for 15to 20minutes,then centrifuge for 15minutes at
-5

.Dilute an accurately measured volume of the supernatant with an equal volume of
Mobile phase.Cool in a methanol-ice bath for 10to 15minutes,with occasional agitation.Filter first through a pledget of glass wool or a prefilter disk and then through a 0.45-µm porosity membrane to obtain a clear solution.
Procedure
Introduce equal volumes (between 15and 25µL)of the
Assay preparationand the
Standard preparationinto a high-pressure liquid chromatograph (see
Chromatography á621ñ),operated at room temperature,by means of a suitable microsyringe or sampling valve.Adjust the operating parameters with
Mobile phaseon the column,such that the separation of triamcinolone acetonide and internal standard is optimized,with a retention time of about 14.5minutes for triamcinolone acetonide.Typically,the apparatus is fitted with a 30-cm ×4-mm column containing packing L1,and is equipped with a UVdetector capable of monitoring absorbance at 254nm,and a suitable recorder.In a suitable chromatogram,the coefficient of variation for five replicate injections of a single specimen is not more than 3.0%,and the resolution factor,
R(see
Chromatography á621ñ),between the peaks for triamcinolone acetonide and fluoxymesterone is not less than 2.0.Measure the heights of the internal standard and triamcinolone acetonide peaks,at the same retention times obtained from the
Assay preparationand the
Standard preparation.Calculate the quantity,in mg,of C
24H
31FO
6in the portion of Cream taken by the formula:
40C(RU/RS),
in which
Cis the concentration,in mg per mL,of
USP Triamcinolone Acetonide RSin the
Standard preparation,and
RUand
RSare the ratios of the peak heights of triamcinolone acetonide to the internal standard obtained from the
Assay preparationand the
Standard preparation,respectively.