Abstract:
Amoxicillin is a semisynthetic, β
lactam antibiotic that is extensively
prescribed among antibiotics. The
effectiveness of drug therapy can be
changed according to the amount of active
ingredients in the dosage forms. Lack of
quality may lead to toxicity or failure of
therapeutic goals and may develop
resistance. Therefore, this study aims to
evaluate and compare the quality of
different brands of Amoxicillin capsules with
innovator brand purchased from private
pharmacies in the Jaffna municipal
area. Commonly available 7 brands of
Amoxicillin 250mg capsules were collected
from community pharmacies of the Jaffna
municipal area and coded from A1 to A7.
Qualities of those brands were determined
by using the methods such as weight
variation, dissolution, and uniformity of
content tests as described in British
Pharmacopoeia (BP). The dissolution profile
data of seven brands were compared with
the innovator brand (Amoxil) using Oneway
ANOVA followed by the Dunnett T3 test.
All the tested brands complied with the
official specifications for weight variation
and dissolution tests. All brands of
Amoxicillin Trihydrate capsules complied
with the specified BP limits except brand A4
which failed to release the stated amount (89.9 % ±0.15). The statistical comparison
for the drug release reported that some of
the brands showed significant differences (p
< 0.05), indicating that the in vitro drug
release would affect their in vivo
bioavailability. Authorities of the country
should take more attention to the quality of
antibiotics, especially imported drugs.
