Polycaprolactone Nanoparticle Encapsulating Antifouling Ceftaroline for Enhanced In-vitro Controlled Drug Release

Abstract

Globally, infectious diseases are among the top ten significant contributors to large number of fatalities affecting both developed and developing countries evenly. It has been challenging to treat infections like skin infections due to the global trend of developing antibiotic resistance. In context of this, antibiotics that are effective against both gram-positive and gram-negative organisms and have a long half-life as well as high tissue permeability are needed. Cefepime, a member of the fourth generation intravenous cephalosporins, is one such antibiotic. However, the intravenous administration of drug has restricted the supply of drug to the intended area i.e., skin, instead reaches directly to the blood. This draws attention to the significance of developing a drug delivery system that stays at the skin surface while regulating drug absorption, boosts the drug's bioavailability, and lessens the requirement for frequent drug usage. The current research focuses on developing a chitosan nano-carrier using the ionic gelation method, subsequently transformed into carbopol gel for more effective, longer-lasting skin drug release. SEM analysis shows the spherical morphology of chitosan/alginate nanoparticles with sizes of 156±12.75nm and 222±56nm for both blank and drug-loaded nanoparticles, respectively. Positive zetapotential i.e., 18.2mV indicates polycationic chitosan matrix of the nano-capsules. Finally, the in-vitro drug release study manifested controlled drug release at two different pH (5.5 and 7.4) for a period of 24h. Furthermore, antibacterial activity of nano-formulation as well as the gel was observed against both +Ve and -Ve bacterial strains with better zones of inhibition. The obtained data significantly pointed out that the cefepime nanoparticles loaded carbopol gel would be an encouraging choice for skin infections.