Evaluation of disintegration and dissolution of chloroquine tablets in some States in Northern Nigeria

Abstract

The biological performance of tablets is commonly assessed by disintegration time and dissolution rates, which ascertains how much of the orally administered tablet may be bioavailable. This study seeks to assess the quality of chloroquine tablets in some States in Northern Nigeria by determining their disintegration and dissolution parameters. The Vanderkamp tablet disintegration tester was used to assess the disintegration time, while the dissolution rate test was carried out according to British Pharmacopoeia specifications. Five tablets of each coded sample were singly placed in a dry basket of the dissolution tester and the contents of which were immersed in a vessel containing one litre dissolution medium of de-aerated 0.1 HC1 at a constant temperature of 37±0.5°C. The stirring motor operated at 100 revolutions per minute for 45 minutes. The absorbance was measured in an UV spectrophotometer at a wavelength of 344 UM. Twenty-six (26), 36, 50 and 16 of the samples from states A, B, C and D respectively had normal disintegration times of less than 15 minutes. About 86% of the total samples from the 4 states disintegrated within 14 minutes thus conformed to the official requirement. States A (42.86%), B (67.57%), C (80.77%) and D (90.91%) samples had dissolution rate values above 70%. The disintegration time and dissolution rates of the sampled chloroquine tablets were assessed and found to have a good quality. However, quantitative drug assays need to be carried out that will measure the actual amount of active chloroquine in a tablet sample.Keywords: Chloroquine tablet, Disintegration, Dissolution