Determination of N-acetylglucosamine in cosmetic formulations and skin test samples by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography and UV detection

• Published in: Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis Vol. 107; pp. 125 - 130
• Main Authors: Pedrali, Alice, Bleve, Mariella, Capra, Priscilla, Jonsson, Tobias, Massolini, Gabriella, Perugini, Paola, Marrubini, Giorgio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier B.V 25.03.2015
• Subjects: Acetylglucosamine - chemistry; Calibration; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical - methods; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid - methods; Cosmetic analysis; Cosmetic formulations; Cosmetics - analysis; Cosmetics - chemistry; Humans; Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; Limit of Detection; Method validation; N-Acetylglucosamine; Quality Control; Reproducibility of Results; Skin Tests - methods; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; Cosmetic formulations; Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography; EG; N-Acetylglucosamine; Method validation; NAG; OLS; Cosmetic analysis
• ISSN: 0731-7085; 1873-264X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2014.12.014

•A new HILIC-UV method for the determination of N-acetylglucosamine is presented.•The HPLC method is validated and applied to cosmetics and skin test strips.•N-acetylglucosamine quantitation by HILIC-UV is suitable for cosmetics control.•The analysis of skin test strips evidences the method specificity and sensitivity. N-Acetylglucosamine is an ingredient in pharmaceuticals, nutritional supplements and in cosmetics. N-Acetylglucosamine in cosmetics is expected to improve skin hydration, reparation, and to contribute as anti-wrinkle agent. This study reports on the validation and application of an HPLC method based on HILIC and UV detection for determining N-acetylglucosamine in cosmetics and in samples obtained after testing the skin exposed to cosmetics formulations. The chromatographic column used is a ZIC®-pHILIC (150mm×4.6mm, 5μm particle size) on which a mobile phase containing acetonitrile–aqueous KH2PO4 (70:30, v/v) 15mM was applied in isocratic elution mode injecting 20μl of sample at 0.5ml/min constant flow-rate and 10±1°C column temperature. Under these conditions the total run time was 10min and N-acetylglucosamine eluted baseline separated from all other compounds in the samples. Calibration in the range from 40 to 80μg/ml allowed to assess the method linearity (R2>0.999) in a concentration range corresponding to about 50% to 120% of the expected levels of N-acetylglucosamine in the formulations. Precision expressed by RSD% was always better than 2% in intra-day and inter-day assays of authentic samples. Accuracy was in all cases within 95–105% of the expected concentration value in formulations containing N-acetylglucosamine. The sensitivity of the method was at the level of 10μg/ml as limit of detection, and at 40μg/ml as limit of quantitation. The application of the method to formulations containing solid lipid nanoparticles documents its usefulness in cosmetic quality control. The results witness that the method is also suitable for the determination of N-acetylglucosamine in samples obtained from skin test strips.