Abstract
Polyelectrolyte based nano and micro capsules have been extensively studied as promising drug carrier in recent years. Natural degradable capsules have received great deal of attention due to their fascinating structural and morphological characteristics, biocompatibility, sustained and targeted-release capabilities. In this work, chitosan - dextran sulphate nano capsules were prepared via Layer-by-Layer (L-b-L) technique using sacrificial template for drug delivery applications. The loading and in vitro release studies were performed using ciprofloxacin hydrochloride as a model drug. The release media used in the study are plain water and Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS). The optimum drug load was 389 μg, at a loading pH of 2.1 and a temperature of 25 °C for 50 min encapsulation time. The drug loaded capsules exhibited a slow and sustained release up to 24 h and the maximum release rate was obtained at pH 1.2 in water and pH 7.4 in PBS. Least amount of drug release occurred at pH 5.0 in both the release media. The amounts of drug release in water at pH 1.2, pH 5.0 and pH 7.4 are 309 μg, 163 μg and 251 μg respectively where as the corresponding values in the case of PBS (at pH 1.2, pH 5.0 and pH 7.4) are 236 μg, 198 μg and 251 μg respectively. Two different models namely, Ritger - Peppas and Higuchi models were chosen to study the release kinetics behaviour of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride. The prepared bio-degradable capsules had potential as drug carrier for targeting antibacterial drugs with diverse functionality.
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