Asian Journal of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Research Issue 4 (Vol.

1) 2011

ISSN: 2231-2560
Review Article

Asian Journal of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Research

A Review On Paracetamol & Lornoxicam
Tanushree Banerjee1*, Bhaskar Banerjee1 & Angshu Banerjee2
1 Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, RKDF College of Pharmacy, Bhopal (M.P.), India.
2 Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Balaji College of Pharmacy, Jaipur, (Raj.), India.

Received: 27 October 2011; Revised: 17 November 2011; Accepted: 28 November 2011

Abstract: The review describes about some qantitative estimation of Paracetamol and Lornoxicam in bulk and
tablet formulation. The quantitation was carried out by simultaneous equation method, absorption ratio method,
stability indicating reversed phase high performance liquid chromatographic method, Reverse Phase High
Performance Liquid Chromatographic method, and High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography method. All
the methods were validated.
Keywords : Paracetamol, Lornoxicam, formulation, reversed phase high performance liquid

INTRODUCTION:
Paracetamol is a preparation of acetylated aromatic amide group, for the first time presented by
von mering in the year 1893. [1] Chemically, Paracetamol is 4-hydroxy acetanilide, [Figure 1A] used
as an analgesic and antipyretic drug and used for the treatment of pain such as headache, toothache,
rheumatism and neuralgia. Paracetamol is official in I.P, B.P and USP [2]. Paracetamol is freely
soluble in solutions of Ethanol and Acetone, Sparingly soluble in water, very slightly soluble in
Dichloromethane, Ether. Molecular weight of Paracetamol is 151.6 and Meltind Point is 169-170.5oC.
Lornoxicam
is
6-chloro-4-hydroxy-2-methyl-N-2-pyridinyl-2H-thieno[2,3-e]1,2thiazine-3carboxamide 1,1-dioxide [Figure 1B]. Lornoxicam is a novel non-steroidal anti inflammatory drug in
the enolic acid class of compound with analgesic, anti inflammatory and antipyretic properties. It
works by blocking the action of Cyclooxygenase, an enzyme involved in the production of chemicals,
including some prostaglandins in the body [3]. Analytical methods have been reported for the
determination of Lornoxicam includes HPLC, UV-Spectrophotometric, Polarographic, Voltammetric.
LC/MS/MS, TLC-densitometry method were reported for the analysis of lornoxicam [4].
Estimation of Paracetamol and Lornoxicam by Spectrophotometric Quantitative Method in
Combined Dosage Form:Two accurate, precise, sensitive and economical spectrophotometric
methods were developed and validated for simultaneous estimation of Lornoxicam and Paracetamol in
tablet dosage form. These methods were developed based on the simultaneous estimation of drugs in a
binary mixture without previous separation. The methods employed were Absorbance Ratio Method
(Q Analysis) (I) and Simultaneous Equation Method (Vierodts Method) (II). The first method
employs 271.5 nm as 1 (Isobestic point) and 286 nm as 2 (max of Lornoxicam) for formation of
equations. The second method employs estimation of a drug concentration by selecting max where
the absorbances of these drugs were maximum. So max for Lornoxicam and Paracetamol is 286 nm
and 257 nm respectively. Lornoxicam and Paracetamol obey Beers law in the concentration range 8368

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40 gml-1 (r2 = 0.9998) and 10-50 gml-1 (r2 = 0.9999) in 0.1 N NaOH. The mean recovery for
Lornoxicam and Paracetamol were found to be 98.381.28% and 1000.50% from method I and
100.330.56% and 1000.40% from method II [Figure 2][5]
A simple and sensitive spectrophotometric method has been developed for simultaneous
determination of Paracetamol and Lornoxicam in a binary mixture. In the proposed method, the
absorbances were measured at 257.0 nm and 287.0 nm corresponding to the absorbance maxima of
Paracetamol and Lornoxicam in 0.1 N NaOH respectively. Linearity range was observed in the
concentration range of 5-30 g/ml for Paracetamol and 2-10 g/ml for Lornoxicam. Concentration of
each drug was obtained by using the absorptivity values calculated for both drugs at two wavelengths,
257.0 nm and 287.0 nm and solving the simultaneous equation. Developed method was applied to
laboratory mixture and its marketed formulation. The method was validated statistically and recovery
study was performed to confirm the accuracy of the method. The method was found to be rapid,
simple, accurate and precise [Figure 3] [6]
Stability Indicating Studies on LC-Method: Stability indicating reversed phase high performance
liquid chromatographic method was developed for the simultaneous determination of paracetamol and
lornoxicam in tablet dosage form. A Brownlee C-18, 5 m column having 2504.6 mm i.d. in isocratic
mode, with mobile phase containing 0.05 M potassium dihydrogen phosphate:methanol (40:60, v/v)
was used. The flow rate was 1.0 ml/min and effluents were monitored at 266 nm. The retention times
of paracetamol and lornoxicam were 2.7 min and 5.1 min, respectively. The linearity for paracetamol
and lornoxicam were in the range of 5200 g/ml and 0.0820 g/ml, respectively. Paracetamol and
lornoxicam stock solutions were subjected to acid and alkali hydrolysis, chemical oxidation and dry
heat degradation [Figure 4] [7]
Isocratic RP-HPLC: Reverse Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatographic method with in vitro
dissolution assessment was developed for simultaneous estimation of Paracetamol and Lornoxicam in
Tablet. 25 cm 4.6 mm i.d, 5-m particle; Phenomenex Luna C18 reversed-phase column, with
mobile phase, ethyl acetate: Methanol: Water (2.5:70:28.5 v/v), pH was adjusted to 4.0 with acetic
acid. The flow rate was 1.0 ml/min and individual component were measured at 234 nm. The retention
time of Paracetamol and Lornoxicam was 4.350 and 7.23 respectively. The method was validated in
terms of accuracy, precision, linearity, limit of detection, limit of quantitation, robustness and
ruggedness as per ICH and USP guidelines. The in vitro release of various test units was compared for
their similarity using the f2 test which limits were found within the acceptance criteria. The assay and
recovery studies show Paracetamol and Lornoxicam in the range from 99 to 101 % were obtained at
various added concentrations. Ambroxol was used as an internal standard. The procedures were
successfully applied for simultaneous determination of both drugs in laboratory prepared mixtures as
well as commercial tablet dosage form[8][Figure 5]
High Performance Thin Layer Chromatographic Study: Densitometric method for determination
of Paracetamol and Lornoxicam in combined tablet dosage form has been developed and validated.
Separation of the drugs was carried out using Toluene: Methanolic NaOH: Glacial acetic acid (7:2:1.5,
v/v/v) as mobile phase on precoated Silica gel 60 F254 plates. The retention factors for Paracetamol and
Lornoxicam were found to be 0.47 0.02 and 0.67 0.02 respectively. The densitometric evaluation
of bands was carried out at 265 nm. The calibration curve was linear in the concentration range 100 to
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600 ng/band for both the drugs. The method has been successfully applied for the analysis of drugs in
pharmaceutical formulation. The (%) assay (Mean S.D.) was found to be 99.93 0.48 for
Paracetamol and 100.04 0.68 for Lornoxicam respectively [9] [Figure 6, 7]

Figure 1 Chemical Structures of [A] Paracetamol [B] Lornoxicam.

Figure - 2 Overlay Spectra of Lornoxicam and Paracetamol

Figure 3 Overview of Paracetamol and Lornoxicam Spectra

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Figure 4 Liquid Chromatogram of Paracetamol and Lornoxicam

Figure 5 RP-HPLC Chromatograms of Paracetamol, Lornoxicam and Ambroxol (internal

standard)

Figure 6 Overlain Spectra of Paracetamol and Lornoxicam

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Figure 7 Representative densitogram of mixed standard solution of PARACETAMOL (Rf =

0.47 0.02) and LORNOXICAM (Rf = 0.67 0.02)

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2. R. Sawant, L. Bhangale, R. Joshi & P. Lanke., Journal of Chemical Metrology., 2010, 4(1), 21.
3. E. Nemutlu, S. Demircan & S. Kir., Adnan Menderes University, 2004, 29, 134.
4. M. Attimarad., Journal of Basic and Clinical Pharmacy., 2010, 1(2), 115.
5. N. Jain, R. Jain, V. Sahu, H. Sharma, S. Jain & D.K. Jain., Der Pharma Chemica., 2010, 2(2), 165.
6. K.C. Bhavsar, P.D. Gaikwad, V.H. Bankar & S.P. Pawar., International Journal of Pharmacy &
Technology., 2010, 2(2), 429.
7. D.A. Shah, N.J. Patel, S.L. Baldania, U.K. Chhalotiya & K.K. Bhatt., Scientia Pharmaceutica.,
2011, 79, 113.
8. S. Sharma & M.C. Sharma., International Journal of ChemTech Research., 2011, 3(2), 997.
9. V.G. Kulkarni, S.V. Gandhi, B.D. Padmanabh & P.H. Chaube., Pelagia Research Library., 2011,
2(1),182.

*Correspondence Author: Tanushree Banerjee,Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, RKDF

College of Pharmacy, Bhopal (M.P.), India.

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