Quality Assessment Of Some Brands Of Co-Trimoxazole Suspensions Available In Ilorin, Nigeria
Keywords:
Chemical analysis, Microbiological analysis, Co-trimoxazole, IlorinAbstract
Background: Fake and substandard drugs are becoming serious area of concern in our society. These drugs have led to therapeutic failure, adverse effects and microbial resistance to drugs. Therefore, there is the need for routine quality assessment of these drugs in the market to ascertain that they are stable, efficacious and safe for consumption.
Objective: This work was aimed at carrying out chemical and microbiological analysis on eleven brands of Co-trimoxazole suspensions sold in Ilorin, Kwara state and comparing results with a brand used as secondary standard using t-test analysis.
Methods: Chemical analysis was done using titrimetric methods to determine the percentage contents of the active components of the various samples of Co-trimoxazole suspension. Microbiological analysis was done using pour plate method to determine bacteria and fungi counts of samples. Analysis was done using SPSS computer software and p values less or equal 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results: One brand of the Co-trimoxazole suspension failed the chemical test using USP, 2006 specification with average trimethoprim content of 88.94 ± 0% while three brands failed using BP, 2013 specification. Two of these brands had sulfamethoxazole average contents of 109.19 ± 0.72% and 107.85 ± 0% in addition to the brand that failed the USP, 2006 specification. Sample t-test analysis showed that majority of samples varied significantly from sample used as standard.
Conclusion: Generally, over 70% of the various brands of Co-trimoxazole samples examined complied with official standards.
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