Development and Characterization of Nano-Sponge Based Hydrogel of Anti-Fungal Drug For The Treatment of Candidiasis

Abstract

Fungal infection affects around 40 million people in the world. The most common fungal disease is cutaneous candidiasis which occurs on the skin and mucous membrane. It caused by Candida albicans. The areas of the body which are commonly affected are various skinfolds such as armpits, genitals, cuticles and under the breast. The symptoms include rashes, itching and in some cases, cracks occur even blisters. The topical route is considered the most preferred route has it has direct access at the target site and also reduces systemic toxicity. The API usually used are ketoconazole, Clotrimazole, miconazole, luliconazole etc. The conventional treatment has many drawbacks such as low bioavailability, frequent dosing, shorter retention of drug on the skin, less patient compliance and higher relapse rate. To overcome these issues, the novel technology, nano-sponge bolds many advantages such as higher entrapment efficiency, prolonged duration of action, sustain release of drug from the formulation, improves drug profile and it has economical method of preparation. The drug and polymer used to develop nano-sponge were luliconazole and Eudragit RS 100 respectively by using Quasi-emulsion solvent diffusion method. The formulation as characterized for particle size, PI, zeta Potential and results were 252.1 nm ± 83.2 nm, 0.344 ± 0.019, 55.7 mV respectively. They were characterized for FT-IR, DSC and SEM morphology. Further nano-sponge was incorporated into the gel and it was also evaluated for pH, viscosity, spreadability, drug content and results obtained were 6.2, 2970 poise, 98.6 % respectively. Texture analyzer, in vitro drug release, in vitro permeation study and anti-fungal activity was also performed and it was found that nano-sponge based hydrogel has better drug release, better permeation compared with marketed cream. The approach of nano-sponge based hydrogel was found to have better therapeutics overall.