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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
The effect of membrane filtration on the accuracy of quantitative determination of aprepitant in an aqueous medium
Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia
Correspondence should be addressed: Sandji V Ubushaev
Ostrovityanova str., 1, Moscow, 117997, Russia; moc.liamg@veahsubu.kijdnas
Author contribution: Ubushaev SV — development of research design, conducting experiments to assess the effects of filtration and composition of the medium, collection and interpretation of spectral data, writing the main text of the manuscript; Sepp VV — scientific guidance of the work, formulation of a working hypothesis, critical analysis of the obtained patterns, editing and approval of the final version of the article; Bakulin KS — participation in the validation of the analytical method, processing of the obtained results, work with equipment and materials, technical verification of data; Sen OYu — concept development, provision of resources, manuscript writing.
Validation of analytical methods for poorly soluble BCS Class II/IV drugs like Aprepitant in aqueous media is complicated due to instability of samples at the stage of preparation. The goal of the research is to detect the mechanism of loss of Aprepitant analytical signal during filtration and determine the conditions for an exact diagnosis. In this paper, the effect of membrane materials (PES, PVDF, Nylon, PP) on analyte concentration measurements via UV spectrophotometry was examined. Filtration of aqueous solutions is established to cause significant analyte losses ranging from 15.1% (PP) to 83.9% (PES), depending on the initial concentration. It is proved that the main loss factor is not passive adsorption, but mechanically induced heterogeneous nucleation on the membrane surface, which is confirmed by an increase in optical scattering within the 300–500 nm range. Fraction filtration revealed abnormal desorption effects on PES filters. It has been shown that the use of an acidic medium (0.1 M HCl) prevents nucleation due to protonation of the molecule: filtration losses are reduced to statistically insignificant values (<1.6%). To ensure the accuracy of aprepitant analysis, it is recommended to exclude filtration of neutral aqueous solutions, replacing it with centrifugation, or to use acidic dissolution media.
Keywords: spectrophotometry, sample preparation, aprepitant, membrane filtration, induced nucleation, method validation, adsorption, dissolution test