Formulation and evaluation of Azithromycin Dihydrate Niosomes for the Effective Treatment of Bacterial Infection

Abstract

Azithromycin dihydrate is a semi-synthetic macrolide antibiotic of the azalide class for the treatment of bacterial infection. Niosomes are microscopic lamellar structures of non-ionic surfactant bilayer vesicular structures that allow the medications to be encapsulated within, allowing for regulated delivery of the drugs over an extended period. The niosomes were designed which serve the combined advantages of loading the suitable amount of drug required for treatment, modulating its release at the target site, and controlling the bacterial resistance. It also helps to reduce the dose and frequency of the drugs leads to reduction in side effects. In the present work, niosomes of Azithromycin dihydrate were prepared and evaluated for the treatment of bacterial infection. Different formulations of niosomes were designed and prepared by hand shaking method using different ratios of cholesterol, non-ionic surfactant, sodium deoxycholate, chloroform, and methanol. The prepared niosomes were evaluated for different parameters such as entrapment efficiency, vesicle size and shape, and in vitro release study. The drug-excipient interaction was evaluated with the help of FTIR spectra and all the peaks in physical mixtures as well. The efficiency of entrapment was found to be highest for F6 (92.4%). The particle size of the optimized formulation was shown 226.2 nm. SEM analysis indicated that the niosomes are spherical and the size of the niosomes vesicle was in range. In vitro drug release studies of the optimized formulation F6 showed maximum drug release of 88.4% after 24 h. The release profiles were subjected to different mathematical models and the best-suited model was found to be the Korsemeyer Peppas model with the highest regression value (0.9225) via the fickian diffusion mechanism.