Original Articles: 2015 Vol: 7 Issue: 2
Chemical equivalence three brands of Aspirin sold in Sokoto State
Abstract
Chemical or Pharmaceutical equivalents are drug products that contain identical amounts of identical active ingredient. Two drugs with chemical equivalence does not imply bioequivalence. The aim of the work was to compare the the bioequivalents of three brands of Aspirin(A,B,C) obtained at differernt locations. Identification test, uniformity of weight test, assay test, disintegration test, friability test and hardness test were conducted on the selected brands using standard methods. In uniformity of weight test, brand A failed the test as five of its tablets deviated from the mean weight by more than 5% against two. Similarly, brands B and C failed the test completely as all tablets deviated.The three brands were however,found to contain aspirin as their active ingredient after conducting the verification test. After the assay test, brands A and B failed with percentage drug contents of 117.130% and 127.942% respectively. Only brand C passed the test giving a 102.714% content of aspirin.Brands B and C disintegrated after an average time of 0.40 minutes and 0.17 minutes respectively. Brand A gave an ambiguous 20.79 minutes against 20 minutes,therefore, failed the disintegration test. Brands A and C complied with the Standard of not more than 1% friability. Brand B failed the friability test, having showed a 7.67%. Hence brands A and B failed assay test for percentage content. Therefore, this research shows that the three brands are not pharmaceutically or chemically equivalent.