Abstract
Several brands of drugs in the Nigerian drug market may or maynot be the same in terms of quality and efficacy, hence the need to undertake quality controlchecks to ascertain the pharmaceutical quality of different multisource brands of the drug.
Aim and objective: The aim of this study was to employ specific quality control parameters to evaluate and establish the pharmaceutical quality of ten (10) available brands of Metronidazole in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
Methods: Ten (10) different brands of Metronidazole sodium of different strengths ( 200mg-400mg) were purchased from registered pharmaceutical shops across four local government areas of Benin City, Edo State and subjected to preliminary examination of their organoleptic properties such as colour, shape, presence or absence of surface coating and manufacturer’s label information (label strength, batch number, NAFDAC registration number, date of manufacture, date of expiration and manufactures addresses).Thereafter, tablet properties such as weight uniformity, content uniformity, crushing strength, friability, disintegration and in-vitro dissolution tests were carried out in accordance, with the specifications of the British and United States pharmacopoeias. The results obtained were subjected to statistical analysis to establish their reliability and significance.
Results: From the results obtained, it can be seen that all ten (10) brands of Metronidazole passed the weight uniformity test while Metro 3, 7 and 9 failed the test for crushing strength as they failed to break up at maximum pressure.
Metro 4 failed the disintegration test as it exceeded the specified limits for coated tablets. Metro 3 ,6 and 10 failed the friability test while Metro 4, 6 and 10 failed the uniformity of content test.
Conclusion: The ten brands employed in the study, did not pass the BP stipulated standards for disintegration and other unofficial tests.
