Chemical Equivalence of some Brands of Metronidazole Tablets Marketed in Sagamu Community
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Date
2018
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Publisher
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ilorin
Abstract
The occurrence of fake and substandard medicines has become a global issue that draws the attention of all key players in the sector in all nations of the World. This study was carried out for comparative quality assessment of different brands of metronidazole tablets in Sagamu community in Nigeria to determine their suitability for therapeutic purpose.
Five (5) brands of 200mg metronidazole tablet, marketed in Sagamu community Pharmacies were randomly selected and subjected to physicochemical studies which include uniformity of weight, crushing strength, friability, and disintegration rate, and chemical equivalence study using the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) according to official procedures in British Pharmacopoeia (B.P).
All brands except brand D and E passed the weight uniformity test. The friability test was passed by all the brands except brand E according to B.P specification which states that the loss in weight should be less than 1% also all brands except brand B showed satisfactory crushing strength. Also, the disintegration rate of the brands was satisfactory according to the B.P. specification as all the brands disintegrated within 30 minutes. The results of high performance liquid chromatography revealed the percentage content of brands A,B,C,D, and E to be 97.44% w/w, 130.9% w/w, 111.56% w/w, 98.52% w/w, 96.02% w/w respectively. The British Phamacopoeia specification for percentage composition of metronidazole is in the range of 90-105%. Therefore brand A, D and E passed the test while brand B and C did not pass the test.
The results showed that only brand A passed all the analytical procedures and therefore fit or safe for human consumption.
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Keywords
Chemical equivalence, Metronidazole, safety.