Alprazolam Oral Suspension
» Alprazolam Oral Suspension contains not less than 90.0 percent and not more than 110.0 percent of the labeled amount of alprazolam (C17H13ClN4). Prepare Alprazolam Oral Suspension 1 mg per mL as follows (see Pharmaceutical Compounding—Nonsterile Preparations 795):
Alprazolam 100 mg
Vehicle: a mixture of Vehicle for Oral Solution (regular or sugar-free), NF, and Vehicle for Oral Suspension, NF (1:1), or a sufficient quantity
to make 100 mL
Comminute Tablets in a suitable mortar to a fine powder, or add Alprazolam powder. Add about 20 mL of the Vehicle, and mix until a uniform paste is formed. Add the Vehicle in small portions almost to volume, and mix thoroughly after each addition. Transfer the contents of the mortar, stepwise and quantitatively, to a calibrated bottle. Add sufficient Vehicle to bring to final volume, and mix well.
Packaging and storage— Preserve in tight, light-resistant containers. Store at controlled room temperature, or under refrigeration.
Labeling— Label it to state that it is to be well shaken before use, and to state the beyond-use date.
pH 791: between 4.0 and 5.0.
Beyond-use date: 60 days after the day on which it was compounded.
Assay—
Buffer solution— Prepare a 0.04 M sodium acetate solution, and adjust with glacial acetic acid to a pH of 2.4.
Mobile phase— Prepare a filtered and degassed solution of Buffer solution, methanol, and acetonitrile (47:45:8). Make adjustments if necessary (see System Suitability under Chromatography 621).
Standard preparation— Dissolve an accurately weighed quantity of USP Alprazolam RS in Mobile phase, and quantitatively dilute with Mobile phase to obtain a solution having a known concentration of about 20 µg per mL.
Assay preparation— Agitate the container of Alprazolam Oral Suspension for 30 minutes on a rotating mixer, remove a 5-mL sample, and store in a clear glass vial at –70 until analyzed. At the time of analysis, remove the sample from the freezer, allow it to reach room temperature, and mix with a vortex mixer for 30 seconds. Pipet 1.0 mL of the sample into a 50-mL volumetric flask, and dilute with Mobile phase to volume.
Chromatographic system (see Chromatography 621)— The liquid chromatograph is equipped with a 230-nm detector and a 4.6-mm × 25-cm analytical column that contains 5-µm packing L1. The flow rate is about 0.6 mL per minute. Chromatograph the Standard preparation, and record the peak responses as directed for Procedure: the retention time is about 10 minutes, and the relative standard deviation for replicate injections is not more than 1.4%.
Procedure— Separately inject equal volumes (about 20 µL) of the Standard preparation and the Assay preparation into the chromatograph, record the chromatograms, and measure the responses for the major peaks. Calculate the quantity, in mg, of alprazolam (C17H13ClN4) in each mL of Oral Suspension taken by the formula:
50(C/V)(rU / rS)
in which C is the concentration, in µg per mL, of USP Alprazolam RS in the Standard preparation; V is the volume, in mL, of Oral Suspension taken; and rU and rS are the peak responses obtained from the Assay preparation and the Standard preparation, respectively.
Auxiliary Information— Please check for your question in the FAQs before contacting USP.
Topic/Question Contact Expert Committee
Monograph Rick G. Schnatz
Manager, Compounding Pharmacy Expert Committee
1-301-816-8526
(CRX05) Compounding Pharmacy05
Reference Standards Lili Wang, Technical Services Scientist
1-301-816-8129
RSTech@usp.org
USP32–NF27 Page 1455
Pharmacopeial Forum: Volume No. 32(1) Page 46