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Scientific relevance. Cardiac glycosides have been used in medicine for over two centuries. Current studies suggest that biologically active substances from this group can be used to treat not only heart conditions but also viral infections, cancers, and other diseases. Therefore, quality control methods for cardiac glycosides are becoming increasingly relevant.Aim. Based on a review of Russian and international quality standards, as well as up-to-date scientific data, this study aimed to identify promising methods for the identification and quantification of cardiac glycosides in herbal drugs and herbal medicinal products, as well as to evaluate the possibility of substituting physicochemical methods for biological methods.Discussion. The methods that are currently used to standardise cardiac glycosides are either not selective or require laboratory animals (biological test systems). According to a study of pharmacopoeial methods for the identification of cardiac glycosides in herbal drugs and herbal medicinal products, chemical identification tests and thin-layer chromatography continue to be relevant. Quantitative testing of herbal drugs and extracts uses biological and non-selective (spectrophotometry) methods, whereas chromatography is described only in general and individual monographs for herbal drug preparations containing individual cardiac glycosides and medicinal products containing these preparations. Upon analysing quality standards and scientific publications, the authors identified potentially promising methods for the quantification of cardiac glycosides in herbal drugs, herbal drug preparations, and herbal medicinal products, namely chromatographic methods.Conclusions. Reverse-phase high-performance liquid cjromatography (HPLC) with spectrophotometric detection is the most suitable method for pharmacopoeial analysis. The development of an HPLC-based analytical procedure to determine the cardiac glycoside content will provide an opportunity to advance from biological or non-selective methods to more ethical and selective up-to-date techniques.

A great variety of components in multivitamin preparations containing folic acid, and a variety of test methods and conditions of folic acid determination proposed by manufacturers, require alignment of test procedures for products with similar composition.The aim of the study was to compare the results of experimental verification of folic acid determination procedures which use reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP HPLC) with isocratic elution mode. Materials and methods: The Agilent 1260 Infinity II LC system with a diode array detector (280 nm), isocratic elution mode, C8- and C18-bonded silica gel chromatographic columns, model mixtures containing folic acid, cyanocobalamin, ferrous sulfate, and potassium iodide, were used in the study.Results: The lowest relative standard deviation of the folic acid peak area (RSD=0.09%), and the lowest asymmetry factor (As=1.04) for folic acid were observed for the model mixture “ferrous sulfate+folic acid+cyanocobalamin” and the following test conditions. Column: 250×4.0 mm, silica gel for chromatography, octylsilyl (C8), endcapped; mobile phase: methanol‒phosphate buffer (12:88), pH 6.6; column temperature: 25ºС. The study demonstrated the feasibility of using these conditions for determination of pteroic acid impurity with simultaneous precipitation of interfering ferrous ions, using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid solution, pH 9.5, as a solvent.Conclusions: RP HPLC can be recommended as an optimal aligned test procedure for determination of folic acid in combination products. It is recommended to use a solution containing folic and pteroic acids for system suitability testing.

Vitamin A is present in multivitamin products mainly in the form of retinol esters: retinyl acetate, retinyl palmitate, and beta carotene—retinol precursor (dimer) found in plants, which is capable of converting into retinol in liver cells. Retinol is determined in medicinal products primarily by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), with preliminary purification and vitamin isolation by liquid-liquid extraction. However, scientific literature also describes other methods of sample preparation and analysis of such compounds. An important issue is differentiation of vitamin A from other fat-soluble vitamins often included as components in multivitamin products. The aim of the study was to analyse and summarise data on current methods used for determination of vitamin A and its derivatives in medicinal products. The authors analysed the range of vitamin A products authorised in the Russian Federation, and the test methods described in their product specification files. The study demonstrated that the test method most often used for determination of retinol esters was HPLC with isocratic elution mode using octadecylsilyl packing in the reverse-phase mode, and, less frequently, aminopropylsilyl packing in the normal phase mode. Determination of beta carotene in medicinal products is most often performed using spectrophotometry.

The present article reviews the modern approaches for the standardization of synthetic pharmaceutical substances that are realized in the form of national pharmacopoeial standards - monographs published in State Pharmacopoeia of Russian Federation. The test parameters of pharmaceutical substances, the methods for their determination, and the applicable regulatory requirements involved in the pharmacopoeial monographs should be reproducible for every substance declared under the appropriate name.

RETRACTED ARTICLEThe research related to the development of general monographs regulating the requirements for dosage forms used in homeopathic practice is of current interest. The need to harmonize the requirements for the mentioned dosage forms in Russia and abroad is evident, which indicates the reasonability of establishing national standards for the quality of dosage forms for domestic homeopathic medicines. The content of the mentioned standards should be harmonized with the requirements for dosage forms used in allopathic practice.

The State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation is a collection of general monographs and pharmacopoeial monographs. It should be reissued at least once in 5 years. The next scheduled edition of the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation is planned for publication in 2015. It will include both first developed in national and, in some cases, global pharmacopoeial analysis general and pharmacopoeial monographs, and updated revised general and pharmacopoeial monographs. The implementation of the general and pharmacopoeial monographs of the mentioned edition of the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation will significantly increase the level of national pharmacopoeial analysis and ensure its compliance with international standards.

For the purpose of prevention and treatment of various diseases, herbal medicinal products are used along with a wide range of small molecule drugs. Herewith herbal preparations are not only herbs and combined herbal products, but also various galenic and new galenic preparations and individual biologically active compounds derived from plants. The growth of demand for herbal medicinal product, the changing requirements of the regulatory system to their safety and effectiveness during the procedure of registration puts certain tasks to improve this procedure. The article provides an overview of the literature data on contemporary requirements for safety and efficacy assessment of herbal preparations. Analysis of approaches to conducting preclinical and clinical studies of herbal preparations in Russia and the international community led to certain conclusions on the degree of their harmonization and possible unification.