Formulation And In Vitro Evaluation Of Fluconazole Niosomal Gel For Topical Drug Delivery

Abstract

Fluconazole, a macrolide antibiotic, is employed to treat certain susceptible bacteria. Niosomes play a significant role in drug delivery since they can alter pharmacokinetics and bioavailability characteristics, as well as minimise toxicity. Niosomes are becoming more and more crucial in the administration of drugs. While decreasing the drug's systemic absorption, topically administered niosomes can lengthen the duration that medications remain in the stratum corneum and epidermis. Fluconazole-loaded topical gel niosomes are intended to be developed and evaluated in this study. Span 20, 40, 60 (as a non-ionic surfactant) and cholesterol were used to create niosomes by the thin film hydration method (as stable vesicle forming agent). Different dosages of the drugs, surfactants, and cholesterol were used to make niosomes (0.30:1:0.6, 0.6:1:0.6, 0.9:1:0.6). The vesicle size, surface shape, % entrapment effectiveness, drug content, and in vitro drug release of the niosomal dispersion were examined. Using a UV spectrophotometer, the drug concentration and entrapment efficiency were determined at 262 nm. A range of 77.650.25 to 94.120.48 was discovered for the entrapment efficiency. A maximum entrapment efficiency of 94.120.48 was shown for Formulation FS5, which contains Span 60, and 93.900.70 was shown for Formulation FT4, which contains Tween 60. Carbopol 940, glycerol, triethanolamine, and distilled water were used to make fluconazole niosomal gel. Niosomal gel's evaluation was based on its outward appearance, pH, viscosity, drug content, entrapment effectiveness, and in-vitro permeation investigations. The amount of medication released from the niosomal gel was discovered to be 80.76%. The aforementioned data show that encapsulating a fluconazole-loaded niosomal topical gel lengthens drug release, increases drug retention in skin, and enhances cellular permeability.