COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON THE CONTENT OF ACTIVE INGREDIENTS OF CONTAMINATED AND NON-CONTAMINATED ASPIRIN TABLETS SOLD IN PATENT MEDICINE STORES IN CALABAR

*Takon1, I. A., Antai1 S. P., and Eyong2, E. U.

1. Department of Microbiology, University of Calabar, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

A comparative assessment of the content of active ingredients of genuine and degraded expired and unexpired acetylsalicylic acid(Aspirin) was investigated using the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The results obtained were compared with known standard references’ peaks observed on the chromatograms. The results showed reduction in the concentration of Aspirin in samples contaminated when compared with the control. The concentration of Aspirin in samples contaminated by Bacillus subtilis (ASP) and Staphylococcus aureus (ASP2) were 18.58μg/ml and 20.32ug/ml respectively, while the control was 34.13μg/ml. The peak area in the chromatogram for the control (ASPo) was 2430.07mAU2, whereas that of ASP3 was 30.44mAU2. The ASP3 was completely degraded to a new metabolite with a peak area of 290.32mAU2 and a retention time of 3.40minutes. From the results, Aspirin was contaminated during storage and its active ingredients degraded by certain spoilage organisms present in the products. Good manufacturing practice and regular batch inspection should always be carried out on drugs. Most importantly, good storage conditions should be maintained for the safety of Aspirin.

Keywords: Acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin) and High Performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).