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Survey of the
efficacy and quality of some brands of the antibiotics sold
in Calabar Metropolis, South-south region of Nigeria
A. O. Nkang1, I. O. Okonko1*,
J. A. Lennox2, E. T. Babalola3, O. G.
Adewale4, B. O. Motayo1,5, O. K.
Mejeha6, O. A. Adekolurejo7 and J. T.
Amande8,9
1Department
of Virology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, University
of Ibadan College of Medicine, University College Hospital (UCH),
Ibadan, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
2Department of
Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Calabar,
Calabar, Nigeria.
3Department of
Microbiology, College of Applied Sciences, Crawford
University, Igbesa, Ogun State, Nigeria.
4Department of
Biochemistry, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ikene, Ogun
State, Nigeria.
5Microbiology
Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Federal Medical Centre,
Idi-aba, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
6Department
of Microbiology, Federal University of Technology (FUTO),
Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria.
7Department
of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Ibadan, Ibadan,
Nigeria
8Department
of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, University of Uyo, Uyo,
Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.
9Department
of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, University
of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
mac2finney@yahoo.com. Tel: +234-080-3538-0891.
Accepted 14 January, 2010 |
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This study reports the survey of the level of efficacy of
some brands of the antibiotics sold in Calabar, Nigeria.
This survey was carried out using the agar diffusion
technique. Ten brands of 5 different antibiotics were bought
from different pharmacy shops in Calabar metropolis and
tested against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and
Streptococcus pyogenes to determine their efficacies.
The test antibiotics were 2 brands each of ampicillin,
chloramphenicol, erythromycin, septrin and vancomycin. This
survey measured the ability of these antibiotics to inhibit
bacterial growth in vitro.
The potency or activity per milligram of a chemotherapeutic
agent is expressed on the basis of the lowest concentration
of minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) or higher zones
of inhibition.
From the results, the overall mean zones of inhibition for
the test organisms ranged from 20.2 – 33.3 mm, with 21.9 mm
for E. coli, 26.4 mm for K. pneumoniae,
20.2 mm for P. aeruginosa, 33.3 mm for S.
aureus and 21.7 mm for S. pyogenes. Our study
showed that there were no significant differences (P > 0.05)
between the mean zones of inhibition of the test antibiotics
and standard controls tested against the test organisms
except for P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae.
The 2 brands of ampicillin and erythromycin were
significantly (P = 0.027; P = 0.038) less effective against
P. aeruginosa compared to the standard controls while
for K. pneumoniae, the 2 brands of chlorampenicol and
erythromycin were significantly (P = 0.049; P = 0.057) less
effective compared to the standard controls. The results
showed that the level of potency of these antibiotics vary
according to the different manufacturers. Indeed, the
findings of this survey confirm that some of the brands of
antibiotics (ampicillin, chloramphenicol and erythromycin)
sold in Nigeria may be fake or adulterated and do not
contain the acclaimed quantity of active ingredients, which
is a reflection of what goes on in many developing
countries, in particular, in sub-Saharan Africa.
Key words:
Active ingredients, antibiotics, efficacy, quality,
selective toxicity, survey, zones of inhibition. |
