Ebtsam M Abdou and Noha M Ahmed
Terconazole Proniosomal Gels: Effect of Different Formulation Factors, Physicochemical and Microbiological Evaluation
Abstract
As treatment of vaginal fungal infection depends mainly on slow release of the drug and prolonged contact time of the delivery system with the vaginal mucosa, proniosomal gel was used as promising candidate to achieve this target. Terconazole, antifungal drug, proniosomal gels were developed based on span 60 and Brij 76 in different molar ratios (1:1, 1:1.5 and 1:2) relative to cholesterol. Proniosomal formulations were hydrated to form niosomes by incorporating into 1% carbopol gel. Proniosomal gel formulations were evaluated for their Entrapment Efficiency (EE%) and vesicle size. Increasing the molar ratio of cholesterol relative to surfactant has affected both EE and vesicle size of prepared niosomes. Drug release profile from different prepared proniosomal gel formulations in simulated vaginal fluid (SVF) was studied in comparison to the commercial product of terconazole for 24 hours. Depending on the high EE% and in-vitro release profile of formulation SC1.5 (1:1.5 span60: cholesterol), it was selected for further evaluations of stability, mucoadhesion to the vaginal mucosa and inhibition of candidas growth. Results indicated that the selected formula, SC1.5, showed good stability and provided higher mucoadhesion and retention time then the commercial product which resulted in more efficient in-vitro inhibition of candida albicans.