Investigation of the Electrochemical Behavior of the Drug Active Ingredient Pirfenidone and Its Analytical Application in Natural Samples

Abstract

Pirfenidone is an active pharmaceutical ingredient used orally in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and possesses antifibrotic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. Studies conducted on both animals and humans have observed that pirfenidone halts the progression of fibrosis, stabilizes lung function, and reduces the number of acute exacerbations in IPF patients. However, the drug is also associated with side effects such as elevated liver enzymes, liver damage, gastrointestinal problems, photosensitivity reactions, and rashes. Therefore, monitoring liver function during treatment is essential.

The analysis of pirfenidone in physiological samples such as blood and urine is of great importance. According to the literature, chromatographic and spectrofluorimetric, spectrophotometric, and capillary electrophoresis methods are generally used for the determination of pirfenidone. Techniques such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) are also common, but these methods have disadvantages such as requiring expensive equipment, large amounts of organic solvents, long pretreatment times, and expert analysts.

In recent years, electroanalytical methods have gained significant interest in the scientific community due to their speed, cost-effectiveness, and practicality. In this project, a new analytical method has been developed for the analysis of pirfenidone in natural and pharmaceutical dosage samples, which had not been previously determined by any electrochemical methods. The electrochemical properties of pirfenidone were investigated using voltammetric methods, and a sensitive, reliable, and reproducible analytical method was developed using square wave voltammetry (SWV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) techniques. This newly developed method has successfully achieved the analytical application of pirfenidone in natural samples and commercial formulations and has been introduced into the literature as a novel method.