Abstract
Tremendous increase of fungal infections in hospitalized or immune compromised patients has been reported from the last two decades. These infections are commonly treated using econazole and miconazole that have shorter halflife and produce severe side effects. All such issues can be addressed using targeted drug delivery. We developed SNLs based formulation for the treatment of mycosis. The high pressure homogenization method was employed for formulation followed by characterization, assay for antifungal activity, in vitro drug release and ex vivo permeation. The particle size of Econazole-Betamethasone-loaded SLNs, Econazole-loaded SLNs, Betamethasone-loaded SLNs and Blank SLNs were 377.4 +/- 23 nm, 298.7 +/- 9 nm, 177.7 +/- 15 nm and 113.4 +/- 6 nm respectively. The SEM images displayed that droplets are uniform and spherical in shape which ranged from 113.4 +/- 6 to 377.4 +/- 23 nm. In DSC, the SLNs formulation showed endothermic peak at 185.2 degrees C+0.9. Drug content of Econazole loaded SLNs was 82 +/- 0.1 and its entrapment efficiency was approximately 90.4 +/- 0.2. Betamethasone SLNs displayed highest drug content which was 83.5 +/- 0.4 while encapsulation efficiency of same formulation was 94.2 +/- 0.4. The Econazole and Betamethasone combined SLNs exhibited drug content of 80 +/- 0.3 while its encapsulation efficiency was 93.1 +/- 0.5. E-SLNs have significantly high drug release (p < 0.05) as compared to other formulation B-SLNs and EB-SLNs.The Econazole loaded formulations displayed antifungal activity with no synergistic or antagonistic effect with each other. Drug permeation from Econazole SLNs, Betamethasone SLNs and combined Econazole and Betamethasone SLNs was 45%, 40% and 38% respectively. Overall, SLN's are an effective carrier for topical delivery of antifungals agents and that may be helpful in bypassing the serious side effects associated with oral delivery.