Development of Novel Women's Friendly Antifungal Microemulsion Loaded Gel for Vulvovaginal Infections

Title:Development of Novel Women's Friendly Antifungal Microemulsion Loaded Gel for Vulvovaginal Infections

Volume: 14 Issue: 4

Author(s): Mansi S. Dholakia, Dinal Patel*, Kruti A. Patel, Parth R. Joshi, Khushboo J. Bhatt, Mehul N. Patel, Kishor Sorathia and Tejal Soni

Affiliation:

• Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Dharmsinh Desai University, Nadiad, 387001, Gujarat, India

Abstract:

Aim: The research was carried out to develop the microemulsion-loaded gel of curcu-min, alkylpolyglucoside, and tea tree oil to treat vulvovaginal candidiasis infection.

Methods: Screening of oils, surfactants, and co-surfactants was done based on solubility studies and the construction of pseudo-ternary phase diagrams with curcumin. The microemulsion was characterized for globule size, zeta potential, viscosity, and thermodynamic stability. Ex-vivo studies were carried out using Franz diffusion cells. The antifungal activity of microemulsion-loaded hydrogel was evaluated using the cup plate method using Candida albicans ATCC 10231 in glucose yeast agar medium.

Results: The selected micro-emulsion consisted of curcumin 35μg/mL, IPM+TTO (1:1) 0.1 mL, Milcoside 100 + Acconon MC 8-2 EP NF 0.6-0.3 mL, phosphate buffer pH 4 160 mL showed maximum thermodynamic stability and exhibited lowest particle size and highest intensity. The viscosity of microemulsion-loaded gel was 11.2 pa.s. The surface tension of the microemulsion was measured by tensiometer and was found to be 26.07 mN/m. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing assay was done according to NCCLs assay protocol, and the EC50 value of our formulation was found to be 0.4465 μg/mL. In-vitro drug release and ex-vivo permeation studies showed 67.9% release in 420 minutes and 83.02% release in 360 minutes, respectively. An in-vitro irritation study concluded that there was no redness or irritation on goat mucosa.

Conclusion: The texture analysis test showed adhesiveness at -172.46 g s at - 4.60 adhesive force, and the peak load was 13.40 g. The microemulsion-loaded gel formulation can be a promising alternative to the marketed formulations available for vaginal yeast infections.

Cite this article as:

Dholakia S. Mansi, Patel Dinal*, Patel A. Kruti, Joshi R. Parth, Bhatt J. Khushboo, Patel N. Mehul, Sorathia Kishor and Soni Tejal, Development of Novel Women's Friendly Antifungal Microemulsion Loaded Gel for Vulvovaginal Infections, Drug Delivery Letters 2024; 14 (4) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/0122103031304658240627063415