Chemical equivalence study on four brands of α-methyldopa

Baba Haruna*, Odimba E. Adaku

Abstract

Substandard pharmaceutical products have a deleterious effect on health care delivery at all levels. The manufacturers of health products, the medical practitioners and the patients are all affected by substandard medicines but the patient is the worst hit. Methyldopa is an important anti-hypertensive agent used in the management of hypertension. The chemical equivalence of four brands of methyldopa was carried out using the United State Pharmacopoeia (USP) method, which involve non-aqueous titration. Three out of the four brands of methyldopa passed the test that is the percentage content fell within the specified range of 90-110% while one of the samples failed the test with percentage content of 82.07%. This finding points to the need for regular quality checks on pharmaceutical products in circulation.