Analytical Methods for the Determination of Amikacin in Pharmaceutical Preparations and Biological Fluids: A Review

Amikacin (AM) belongs to the family of aminoglycoside antibiotics. It is a broad spectrum antibiotic, effective against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial infections. The chemical structure of AM consists of hydroxyl (OH), glucopyranosyl and amino (NH2) groups. However, the lack of chromophore in the AM structure made it difficult to detect it in the UV-visible region (200–800 nm). Therefore, derivatization of AM is carried out to introduce a chromophore in its structure which helps in its detection in the UV-visible region. Several methods have been developed and reported for the determination of AM in pharmaceutical and biological samples. These methods include chromatographic techniques such as thin layer chromatography (TLC), liquid chromatography (LC), hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILC), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC), ion chromatography (IC); spectrometry such as UV-visible spectrometry, spectrofluorimetry, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry, mass spectrometry (MS); chemiluminescence; Rayleigh scattering method; electrochemical methods such as polarography, cyclic voltammetry, amperometry; immunoassay and microbial assay. This review highlights the application of these methods in the analysis of AM in pharmaceutical and biological samples.