Abstract

The objective of this study was to carry out pharmaceutical equivalence studies on ten different brands of commercially available samples of metronidazole tablets from different manufacturers. The in vitro parameters employed were dissolution rate (in 0.1 N Hydrochloric acid at 37^oC), hardness, weight uniformity, friability, disintegration time, absolute drug content and dissolution efficiency were also analyzed. Results obtained showed that there were wide variations in the various tablet parameters among the different brands, with some of the brands having acceptable tablet characteristics while others did not. Only two batches indicated evidence of predictable bioequivalence. This is significant in therapy where drugs are expected to not only conform to their label claims but also have satisfactory bioavailability.

Key words: Metronidazole, bioequivalence, bioavailability, prediction, dissolution efficiency.