Ciprofloxacin Loaded Nanostructured Lipid Carriers Incorporated into In-Situ Gels to Improve Management of Bacterial Endophthalmitis

Preparation and application of pH-responsive composite hydrogel beads as potential delivery carrier candidates for controlled release of berberine hydrochloride

For improving the effective concentration of berberine hydrochloride (BH) in the gastrointestinal tract, a series of pH-responsive hydrogel beads were prepared based on carboxymethylstarch-g-poly (acrylic acid)/palygorskite/starch/sodium alginate (CMS-g-PAA/PGS/ST/SA) in the present work. The developed hydrogel beads were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). Effect of palygorskite (PGS) content on the swelling properties of hydrogel beads and BH cumulative release were discussed. The pH responsiveness of hydrogel beads was also investigated in different media. Results illustrated that swelling of hydrogel beads and BH cumulative release from hydrogel beads were obviously affected by PGS content. The swelling ratio and BH cumulative release of composite hydrogel beads remarkably slowed down with PGS content increasing in the range from 10 to 40 wt%. The composite hydrogel beads were pH-responsive. At pH 7.4, the swelling ratio and BH cumulative release from composite hydrogel beads were the fastest among the dissolution media of pH 1.2, pH 6.8 and pH 7.4. The BH cumulative release from hydrogel beads was related to the swelling and relaxation of composite hydrogel beads and could be fitted better by the Higuchi model. The obtained composite hydrogel beads could be potentially used for the development of BH pharmaceutical dosage forms.

Colloidal lipid nanodispersion enriched hydrogel of antifungal agent for management of fungal infections: Comparative in-vitro, ex-vivo and in-vivo evaluation for oral and topical application

Ketoconazole (KZ) is broad spectrum antifungal drug, used for the treatment of fungal infections. KZ's clinical topical use has been associated with some adverse effects in healthy adults particularly local reactions, such as stinging, severe irritation, and pruritus. However, bioavailability of KZ after oral administration is low from tablets due to its low aqueous solubility. The objective of this investigation was development and characterization of KZ-containing solid lipid nanoparticles (KZ-SLNs) and SLN-containing hydrogel (KZ-SLN-H) for oral and topical delivery of KZ. KZ-SLNs were prepared using homogenization-sonication method. Optimal KZ-SLN formulation was selected based on physicochemical and in-vitro release studies. Optimized KZ-SLN converted to KZ-SLN hydrogel (KZ-SLN-H) using gelling polymers and optimized with rheological and in-vitro studies. Further, optimized KZ-SLN and KZ-SLN-H formulations evaluated for crystallinity, morphology, stability, ex-vivo and in-vivo pharmacokinetic (PK) studies in rats, comparison with KZ suspension (KZ-S) and KZ-S hydrogel (KZ-SH). Optimized KZ-SLN formulation showed desirable characters. KZ-SLN and KZ-SLN-H formulations exhibited spherical shape, converted to amorphous, sustained release behaviour and enhanced permeability (p < 0.05). Moreover, both formulations were stable for three months at 4 °C and 25 °C. PK studies revealed 1.9 and 1.5-folds, 3.5 and 2.8-folds enhancement of bioavailability of optimized KZ-SLN and KZ-SLN-H formulations (p < 0.05) compared with KZ-S and KZ-SH formulations, respectively. Overall, SLN and SLN-H formulations could be considered as an efficient delivery vehicles for KZ through oral and topical administration for better control over topical and systemic fungal infections.