Hassan Y, Alfadly SO, Azmin MN, Peh KK, Tan TFY, Noorizan AA, Ismail O
Correspondence: Dr Yahaya Hassan, yahaya@usm.my
ABSTRACT
Introduction A bioequivalence study of two oral formulations of 500 mg tablets of ciprofloxacin (RAZA Pharmaniaga, Malaysia) as test and Ciprobay (Bayer AG, Germany) as reference, was carried out in 24 healthy human volunteers. Each volunteer received a single dose of ciprofloxacin.
Methods The study method used was a double-blind, two-period, two-treatment, two-sequence, and crossover randomised design. Blood samples were taken before, and within 24 hours after drug administration. Plasma concentrations of ciprofloxacin were determined by a high-performance liquid chromatographic method with ultraviolet detection. The pharmacokinetic parameters, C(max) and T(max), were obtained directly from plasma data, k(e) was estimated by log-linear regression, and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated by the linear trapezoidal rule. The parameters, AUC(0-infinity) and C(max), were tested for bioequivalence after log-transformation of data, while the differences of T(max) were evaluated nonparametrically.
Results When AUC(0-infinity) and C(max) were analysed using analysis of variance, no statistically significant difference was observed between the two different formulations. The 90 percent confidence intervals of the mean values for the test/reference ratios were 0.95-1.07 for AUC(0-infinity) and 0.90-1.07 for C(max), respectively. Both of these values were within the bioequivalence acceptance range of 0.80-1.25.
Conclusion We found that both formulations are bioequivalent and, therefore, interchangeable.
Keywords: bioequivalence, ciprofloxacin, healthy volunteers, high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis, pharmacokinetics
Singapore Med J 2007; 48(9): 819–823
