Microbiological Evaluation of some Oral Antacid Suspensions Sold in Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

Pharmaceutical products (non-sterile) are faced with the challenges of not exceeding the minimum limit of microbial presence tolerated for the respective formulations. Antacid suspensions which are multi-dose drug products that are utilized in the neutralization of gastric acid. This drug with neutral pH makes them to be liable to microbial contamination. This study was conducted to evaluate antacid suspensions marketed in Delta State, Nigeria based on their microbial quality. Six different brands of antacid suspensions were collected from different Pharmacies in Delta state and were analysed microbiologically to isolate and quantify the implicated bacteria and fungi using conventional cultural and biochemical techniques. The microbiological evaluation of these samples was determined using the agar-well diffusion method. Five out of the six brands evaluated were found to be populated with a huge
number of bacteria (2.5 x 10² to > 2.2 x 10² CFU/ml) and fungi (2 x 10² to 8 x 10² CFU/ml). Staphylococcus aureus was absent in any of the antacids brands studied. However, there were presence of objectionable microorganisms, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans in three of the six brands. The results of this study reveal the microbial contamination level of some of the antacid (suspensions)  marketed in Delta State which may be due to poor adherence to current good manufacturing practice by the manufacturers.

Keywords: Antacid suspensions, Microorganisms, Microbiological quality, Brands.