Table 2.
Comparison of the dipstick and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the quantitation of artemisinins in commercial drugs
| Stated trade name* | SM/DC | Lot no. | Region | Dipstick results | HPLC results† (mg/mL) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artel+ | DC: Poly Gold Company | Unknown | Ayeyawaddy | Passed | 2.09 ± 0.05 |
| Unknown | Bago | Passed | 1.95 ± 0.06 | ||
| AA-ARTEMTHER | SM: AA Medical Products Ltd., Vietnam | Unknown | Mandalay | Passed | 1.95 ± 0.06 |
| MALARTE-AL SS | SM: Global Pharma Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., India | IB465 | Sagaing | Passed | 2.04 ± 0.03 |
| SUPA ARTE | DC: AA Medical Products Ltd. | Unknown | Rakhine | Passed | 1.95 ± 0.01 |
| ARTEM injection | SM: Kunming Pharmaceut. Corp., China | 20130211 | Mandalay | Passed | 1.98 ± 0.01 |
| DC: Poly Gold Company | Unknown | Ayeyawaddy | Passed | 2.21 ± 0.03 | |
| 20130209 | Sagaing | Passed | 2.07 ± 0.01 | ||
| Artemether injection | Unknown | Unknown | Mandalay | Passed | 1.97 ± 0.01 |
| Unknown | Unknown | Mandalay | Passed | 2.01 ± 0.05 | |
| Unknown | Unknown | Ayeyawaddy | Passed | 1.97 ± 0.02 | |
| PAI COTOKIN | SM: Ningbo Shuangwei Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., China | 0801 | Kachin | Passed | 1.81 ± 0.01 |
| DC: Pai Brothers’ Int’L trading Co., Ltd. | Ayeyawaddy | Passed | 1.84 ± 0.04 | ||
| Lumartem | SM: CIPLA LTD. MIDC Patalganga, India | M.L.845 | Bago | Passed | 2.08 ± 0.05 |
| ARTEM (capsules) | SM: KPC Group. | Unknown | Ayeyawaddy | Passed | 1.87 ± 0.02 |
| DC: Poly Gold Company | 120224 | Tanintharyi | Passed | 1.80 ± 0.15 | |
| ARTEMETHER (tablets) | SM: Kunming Pharmaceutical Corp., China | Unknown | Tanintharyi | Passed | 1.98 ± 0.04 |
| Artesunate (tablets) | SM: Mediplantex, Hanoi, Vietnam DC: Liberty Group Trading Ltd. | 216214 | Ayeyawaddy | Passed | 2.08 ± 0.08 |
| 264613 | Bago | Passed | 1.80 ± 0.04 | ||
| Kayah | Passed | 2.30 ± 0.05 | |||
| 212514 | Mandalay | Passed | 2.22 ± 0.05 | ||
| Bago | Passed | 2.31 ± 0.09 | |||
| 210514 | Rakhine | Passed | 2.04 ± 0.09 | ||
| Artesun (injection) | SM: Guilin Pharmaceutical Co,. Ltd. | LA131111 | Bago | Failed | 0 |
| D-ARTEPP | SM: Guilin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., China | SQ140102 | Sagaing | Passed | 1.73 ± 0.04 |
| Duo-Cotecxin | SM: Zhejiang Holley Nanhu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., China | 130635 | Mandalay | Passed | 1.85 ± 0.01 |
| 19032014 | Shan | Passed | 1.90 ± 0.04 | ||
| 24062013 | Kachin | Passed | 1.89 ± 0.03 | ||
| 07112014 | Sagaing | Passed | 1.86 ± 0.02 |
SM = Stated manufacturer; DC = Stated distributing Company. Drugs were all ground and diluted to 2 mg/mL based on the labeled contents. The artesunate tablet that had the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) content determined by HPLC outside the 85–115% of the labeled API content was highlighted in bold.
*
Each sample was analyzed in triplicate.
†
Data represent mean ± SD.