Assessment of the Quality of Diclofenac Tablets Marketed in Gombe Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Diclofenac is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that inhibits the enzyme cyclo-oxygenase and decreases the synthesis of prostaglandins. Diclofenac tablet is one of the commonly used NSAID marketed in Gombe metropolis. Objectives: The study is aimed at assessing the quality of different brands of diclofenac tablets (50 mg) sold at Pharmacies and Patent medicine shops (PMS). Method: Ten diclofenac tablet brands were obtained from registered Pharmacy shops and labelled “A to J” while ten brands from PMS were labelled “K to T”. The quality of the tablets was evaluated using official and non-official parameters such as uniformity of weight; thickness; diameter; crushing strength (CS); friability (FR); disintegration time (DT), wetting time, dissolution testing and tablet content uniformity. Results: Brands A, E, J from Pharmacies and K, N, Q, R from PMS had mean CS within the range of 4-7 kgF. Others had CS > 7 kgF. The FR values of all the brands except F and T were <1.0 %. All the tablet brands except Q disintegrated in <15 min. All the brands obtained from pharmacies and PMS released >75 % of the drug within 30 min except brands G and T. Conclusion: Almost all the brands were of good quality because they passed the prescribed tests. But only a few tablet brands most especially G and T that showed slightly dissimilar results when compared with the BP specifications.