In-Vitro Adsorption of Fluoroquinolones on Some Pharmaceutical Adsorbents

PURPOSE: Drug overdose and poisoning are common clinical problems and could occur with the fluoroquinolones -a new series of synthetic antimicrobial agents. It therefore becomes important to study the adsorption of the fluoroquinolones on pharmaceutical adsorbents which could serve as possible antidotes for the emergency treatment of fluoroquinolone overdose or poisoning when they occur. METHOD: The rate and extent of adsorption of the fluoroquinolones on some pharmaceutical adsorbents; namely activated charcoal; kaolin and bentonite were investigated spectrophotometrically RESULTS: The fluoroquinolones adsorbed on activated charcoal rapidly and attained equilibrium within fifteen minutes. The fluoroquinolones however adsorbed on kaolin and bentonite less rapidly and attained equilibrium within two hours. Activated charcoal and bentonite had high adsorption capacities for the fluoroquinolones while kaolin had low adsorption capacities for them. CONCLUSION: Because of the rapid rate of adsorption and high binding capacities exhibited by activated charcoal for the fluoroquinolones; it could be an effective antidote for the fluoroquinolones in cases of overdose or poisoning. Activated charcoal has shown a superior behaviour to both bentonite and kaolin in the adsorption of the fluoroquinolones

An Alternative Colorimetric Method for the Determination of Chloramphenicol

PURPOSE : To develop a simple; cheap; fast; accurate; sensitive and precise colorimetric method that can be used for the determination of chloramphenicol. METHOD : Chloramphenicol was reduced in a mixture of glacial acetic acid and water using titanium (III) chloride at room temperature within 10 min. The reduced product was then heated for 20 min with p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde to yield the final product whose absorbance was used for the determination of the concentration of chloramphenicol. Results obtained with this method were compared with those obtained with the microbiological assay of chloramphenicol. RESULT : The final product of the two step reaction was greenish - yellow in colour;; absorbed strongly in the visible region and obeyed Beer's law at ?[max]= 440 nm. The method developed was sensitive and accurately determined chloramphenicol in the presence of common excipients and in different dosage forms. There was statistically no significant difference (p less than 0.05) between the results with the method developed and those obtained with the microbiological assay of chloramphenicol. CONCLUSION: A simple; fast; cheap; precise; sensitive and accurate colorimetric method has been developed that could be routinely used for the determination of chloramphenicol in bulk drug and in different dosage forms. The advantage of the method is its speed and simplicity