Evaluation of the physicochemical quality and antimicrobial performance of amoxicillin and amoxicillin + clavulanic acid discs used in Burkina Faso

[Display omitted] •Twenty samples of amoxicillin and amoxicillin + clavulanic acid discs were collected.•HPLC-DAD method was validated for assay of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid in discs.•Susceptibility test was assessed by EUCAST diffusion method on reference strains.•40% of samples failed antimicrobial performance and active substance assay tests.•All disc samples had non-compliant clavulanic acid content. Antibiotic discs used in medical analysis laboratories are sourced from multiple manufacturers and suppliers and must meet stringent quality requirements. This study aimed to assess the quality and performance of amoxicillin and amoxicillin + clavulanic acid discs used in Burkina Faso. An evaluation of the use of antibiotic discs was initially conducted in the 20 sentinel laboratories for antimicrobial resistance surveillance in Burkina Faso. Then, various brands of amoxicillin and amoxicillin + clavulanic acid discs samples were collected from medical laboratories and local distributors. Quality control tests (identification and assay) were performed by high-performance liquid chromatography according to the validated method adapted from the USP monograph. The performance of the discs was assessed by testing their efficacy against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 strains. Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 were resistant to 30% of amoxicillin + clavulanic acid discs and to 55.6% of amoxicillin discs collected. In addition, only 22.2% and 45.5% of amoxicillin and amoxicillin + clavulanic acid discs tested met the specifications for amoxicillin contents. No brand of amoxicillin + clavulanic acid discs collected met the specifications for clavulanic acid content. Extending this study to a larger number of antibiotics would enable better documentation of the antibiotic disc quality..