Doxycycline, a tetracycline antibiotic, is commonly used to combat bacterial infections, most notably malaria. Recent studies have shown an increase in production and distribution of substandard pharmaceuticals amongst developing countries, and with over 90% of malaria cases occurring in Africa, the threat of counterfeit, or substandard, pharmaceuticals is real and deadly. Additionally, the potential for lack of proper storage, lab cleanliness, and slow sales of product opens these pills to a variety of contaminants and routes for degradation. This study sought to probe the stability of doxycycline capsules obtained from Kenya in order to better understand effects that may limit the “shelf-life” of this product. Different degradation experiments included exposure to acid and base hydrolysis, oxidative stress, and thermal variances. Using HPLC-UV and FT-IR as analytical methods allowed for the quantitative assessment of the impacts of the different environments. Continued studies focus on the products resulting from the degradation of doxycycline. This research is conducted in conjunction with the University of Notre Dame’s Distributed Pharmaceutical Analysis Laboratory. All data will be compiled to help enhance the knowledge concerning the effects of sub optimal storage conditions on the degradation of these counterfeit pharmaceutical products.

Forced degradation of doxycycline capsules sourced from Kenya

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.