A PVC Membrane Sensor for Potentiometric Determination of Atorvastatin in Biological Samples and Pharmaceutical Preparations

The present article reports for the first time the use of Aliquat 336S-atorvastatin as an electroactive material in a poly(vinyl chloride) matrix membrane sensor plasticized with ortho-nitrophenyl-octylether (o-NPOE) or dioctylphthalate (DOP) for determination of atorvastatin in biological samples (human plasma) and in pharmaceutical preparations. The sensor shows fast, stable and reproducible response over the concentration range of 1.0x10(-7)-1.0x10(-2)molL(-1) atorvastatin with anionic slopes of 60.94 +/- 0.2 and 58.22 +/- 0.2 and pH range of 5.0-9.0 for o-NPOE and DOP plasticized based membrane sensors, respectively. The response time of the sensor is stable and fast (10s). Results were achieved with average recoveries of 99.5\% and 99.3\% and mean standard deviations of +/- 1.1\% and +/- 1.4\% for o-NPOE and DOP plasticized based membrane sensors, respectively. The sensor exhibits high selectivity towards atorvastatin in the presence of many anions, drug excipients and diluents. Validation of the method according to the quality assurance standards shows suitability of the proposed sensors for use in the quality control assessment of the drug.