Abstract
Background: Norfloxacin (NFX) eye drops have a short precorneal residence time, resulting in rapid drug elimination and frequent administration. Oleogel systems may prolong ocular residence time and sustain drug release.
Aim: Development and characterization of NFX-loaded microemulsion-based ocular oleogel.
Methods: Oil-in-water microemulsions of NFX were prepared and characterized for globule size, PDI, pH, drug content, thermodynamic stability, and drug release. The optimized ME was converted into oleogels using different oleogelators.
Oleogel formulations were evaluated for phase separation, thermal stability, drug content and release, pH, rheology, FTIR compatibility, texture, and antibacterial activity.
Results: The optimized ME formulation (F4) was thermodynamically stable and showed a globule size of 11.14 ± 0.66 nm and PDI of 0.264 ± 0.017, with 93.5% drug release over 8 h. Among various tested oleogelators, 12-hydroxystearic acid showed the best gelation ability in the ME-based system. The optimized ME-based oleogel containing 3% 12-HSA (HSA -3) showed good thermal stability and sustained NFX release of 82.1% over 8 h. Oleogels showed pseudoplastic thixotropic behavior and retained antibacterial activity against S. aureus, E. coli, and P. aeruginosa.
Conclusion: ME-based oleogels of NFX demonstrated potential as sustained ocular delivery systems.
| Has the manuscript been published | not published |
|---|---|
| Intend to be published in the IJPS ? | NO |
