QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF DIFFERENT BRANDS OF CIPROFLOXACIN COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT The safety and efficacy of Ciprofloxacin tablets can be guaranteed when their quality is reliable and reproducible from batch to batch. The use of substandard drugs contributes highly to the problems of treatment failure and increasing resistance to therapy. Post marketing drug surveillance therefore serves as a means of monitoring the quality and interchangeability of these generic medications for their innovator brands. This study aims to evaluate the quality of different Ciprofloxacin tablets marketed in Rivers State, Nigeria and focused on the analysis and comparison of some of the physicochemical properties of Ciprofloxacin tablets. Nine different pharmaceutical brands of Ciprofloxacin tablets were utilized in this study. Physical characteristics, weight uniformity test, hardness test, friability test, disintegration test, dissolution test and assay for the content of Ciprofloxacin tablets were performed using the methods described in the British Pharmacopoeia. The calibration curve of Ciprofloxacin was linear over a concentration of 0.02-0.16 mg/mL The absorbance range were from 0.1 to 0.08 and the R2 value is 0.9902. Based on the results of this research study, all the ciprofloxacin tablets tested conformed to compendial standards on physical characteristics, weight uniformity, friability, disintegration time, content of active ingredient and drug release except C2 tablets that failed the content of active ingredient. Therefore, eight out of nine pharmaceutical brands of Ciprofloxacin tablets included in the research study complied with the physicochemical quality parameters standard with the pharmacopeial specifications described in the BP and USP/NF. The data obtained from this research study gives vital information on the standard and batch-to-batch consistency of the evaluated brands of Ciprofloxacin and the need for manufacturers to ensure strict adherence to Good Manufacturing Practices.