Analysis of gastrointestinal acid-neutralizing potency of some commercial antacid tablet formulations

Abstract

In dyspepsia, formulations known as antacids are regularly used to alleviate symptoms as quickly as possible. Gastric contents are acidic; therefore, antacids are usually weak bases with the potential to neutralize excess acid and raise gastric pH accordingly. Acid-neutralizing capacity is what determines the effectiveness of an antacid. Some antacid tablets formulation from different manufacturers were tested for their acid-neutralizing capacity and effectiveness for patients in this study. The South-East region of Nigeria had pharmacies vending antacids of different brands. To remove potential bias from the study, the brands were coded A-F. Labels on all samples indicated that they would expire more than one year from now. To determine each antacid tablet's acid-neutralizing capacity, the titrimetric method was used. In terms of acid-neutralizing capacity, brands D, A, B, C, F, and E showed the greatest acid-neutralizing capacity (8.2mEq/g), and brand E showed the lowest capacity (5.7 mEq/g). An analysis of the ANC of all the tablets found that they exceeded the FDA standard of >5mEq for antacids. An inexpensive, simple, and easy-to-use titrimetric method could be used routinely to monitor antacid tablet quality.