In-vitro quality assessment of commercially available ciprofloxacin tablets marketed in Arba Minch City, Ethiopia

Abstract

This investigation focused on examining the quality of various ciprofloxacin tablets sold in drug outlets in Arba Minch, applying criteria from Pharmacopoeia as well as non-official measures. Samples were obtained through convenience sampling from local pharmacies in Arba Minch, Southern Ethiopia. Quality testing was performed at the Jimma University drug quality control laboratory. Each sample underwent assessments for identity, weight uniformity, solubility, friability, and assay, following the guidelines of the United States and British Pharmacopoeias. Among the tested brands, C1 showed the highest friability value (0.199). None of the brands deviated more than 5% from the average tablet weight, which is within acceptable limits. All brands released over 80% of the active ingredient within 30 minutes during dissolution testing. ANOVA analysis revealed no significant differences in dissolution profiles across brands, and the Korsmeyer–Peppas kinetic model provided the finest fitting description of dissolution behavior. Identification tests confirmed consistency with the reference standard, as retention times differed by less than 0.1 minutes. All seven brands met the assay requirements. Overall, all ciprofloxacin tablet brands examined complied with pharmacopeial in vitro quality standards.

Keywords: Assay test; Dissolution; Friability; Quality assessment; Weight uniformity