Quality Control of Tramadol in Kisangani: Development, Validation, and Application of a UV-Vis Spectroscopic Method

Substandard and falsified medicines are circulating in low-income countries mostly without any control. We availed a simple and not expensive UV-Vis spectroscopic method to evaluate the quality of tramadol in Kisangani before and during the Covid-19 period. Methods: For the analytical quantitative method, an experimental design was applied to set up the optimal levels of the selected factors, namely, pH of dissolution medium, type of cuvette, and wavelength. Taking into account the capsule pharmaceutical formulation within 80 - 120 μg·mL-1 concentration range, we analyzed 89 tramadol samples from pharmacies and hospitals of the six Kisangani municipalities. Results: pH showed a significant effect on absorbance, whereas quartz cuvette and wavelength did not. A typical 100 μg·mL-1 tramadol solution gave an absorbance of 0.64 at 272 nm. Validation highlighted a matrix effect observed with a 6% bias. A correction factor of 0.9372 allowed to improve the accuracy profile, which were then totally included within the 10% acceptance limits. Quality control revealed that 25 samples out of 89 were not compliant in terms of manufacturing license, registration status in DRC and content as well. Conclusion: This study showed that the strengthening of analytical strategy in Kisangani is a need.