A Validated Voltammetric Procedure for Quantification of the Antifungal Drug Griseofulvin in Bulk Form, Tablets, and Biological Fluids at a Mercury Electrode

Abstract

Griseofulvin is an antifungal antibiotic used to treat various pathogenic mycotic diseases. The voltammetric behavior of griseofulvin at a hanging mercury drop electrode in Britton‐Robinson buffers of pH 2–11.5 was studied and discussed. A fully validated sensitive square‐wave adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetric procedure was described for direct determination of bulk griseofulvin substance. The procedure was based on the reduction of the >C˭O double bond of griseofulvin molecule following its preconcentration onto a hanging mercury drop electrode in a Britton‐Robinson buffer of pH 10. Limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) of 5.8×10⁻¹⁰ M and 1.93×10⁻⁹ M bulk griseofulvin were achieved, respectively. The proposed stripping voltammetric procedure was successfully applied to assay griseofulvin in tablets and in spiked human serum and urine samples. LOD of 8.65×10⁻¹⁰ M and 6.6×10⁻⁹ M and LOQ of 2.88×10⁻⁹ M and 2.2×10⁻⁸ M griseofulvin in spiked human serum and urine samples, respectively, were achieved.

Keywords:

• Griseofulvin
• ultrafulvin
• cyclic voltammetry
• square‐wave adsorptive stripping voltammetry