ISSN 2326-7267
International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology ISSN 2326-7267 Vol. 8 (5), pp. 001-009, May, 2020. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Quality assessment of three imidazole antiparasitics (albendazole, mebendazole and metronidazole) sold in Benin
Loconon Achille Yemoa1, Jacob Bonou2,3, Ahmed Amoussa1,2, Hélène Ahouandjinou2,3, Roland Marini Djang’eing’a4 and Farid Baba-moussa2,3¬
1Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry and Drug Analysis (LCAM), Faculty of Health Sciences (FSS), University of Abomey-Calavi, Champ de Foire, Cotonou, Benin.
2National Laboratory of Quality Control of Medicines and Medical Consumables (LNCQ), Ministry of Health, 06 BP 139 Cotonou, Benin.
3Laboratory of Microbiology and Food Technology (LAMITA), Faculty of Sciences and Technics, University of Abomey-Calavi, Institute of Applied Biomedical Sciences (ISBA), Champ de Foire, Cotonou, Benin.
4Laboratory of Analytical Pharmaceutical Chemistry, CIRM, Department of Pharmacy, Liege University, Quartier Hôpital, Av. Hippocrate 15, B36, B-4000 Liège, Belgium.
Accepted 02 March, 2020
Abstract
Illicit circuit of medicines disrupts the quality assurance system and the rational use of medicines. Substandard and falsified (SF) medicines present a major risk for the public health, due to lack of active ingredient and/or toxicity of certain components. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of three imidazole antiparasitic medicines (albendazole, mebendazole and metronidazole tablets) sold in Benin, to describe the different forms of non-compliances of the medicines sold in the illicit circuit. The samples were collected in the formal and illicit (informal) circuits. The results appeared as follows: irregularities of packaging (25.5% of samples from the illicit circuit); mass uniformity test (14.7% of samples from the illicit circuit were non-compliant); disintegration test (2.1% of samples from the illicit circuit and 3.5% from the formal circuit were non-compliant); identification (all samples were compliant) and assay (47.1% of samples from the informal circuit were non-compliant among which 26.5% of under-dosing and 20.6% of overdose). In sum, there were respectively 38.3% (i.e. 18/47) and 3.5% (i.e. 2/58) of non–compliance in the illicit and formal circuits.
Keys words: Substandard and falsified medicines, Quality assurance, Quality control, Albendazole, Mebendazole, Metronidazole.