Development and Optimization of Luliconazole Spanlastics to Augment the Antifungal Activity against <i>Candida albicans</i>
Nabil A. Alhakamy,
Mohammed W. Al-Rabia,
Shadab Md,
Alaa Sirwi,
Selwan Saud Khayat,
Sahar Saad AlOtaibi,
Raghad Abkar Hakami,
Hadeel Al Sadoun,
Basmah Medhat Eldakhakhny,
Wesam H. Abdulaal,
Hibah M. Aldawsari,
Shaimaa M. Badr-Eldin,
Mahmoud A. Elfaky
Affiliations
Nabil A. Alhakamy
Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Mohammed W. Al-Rabia
Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz Universit, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Shadab Md
Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Alaa Sirwi
Department of Natural Products and Alternative, Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Selwan Saud Khayat
Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Sahar Saad AlOtaibi
Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Raghad Abkar Hakami
Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Hadeel Al Sadoun
Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Basmah Medhat Eldakhakhny
Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Wesam H. Abdulaal
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Cancer and Mutagenesis Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Hibah M. Aldawsari
Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Shaimaa M. Badr-Eldin
Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Mahmoud A. Elfaky
Department of Natural Products and Alternative, Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Luliconazole is a new topical imidazole antifungal drug for the treatment of skin infections. It has low solubility and poor skin penetration which limits its therapeutic applications. In order to improve its therapeutic efficacy, spanlastics nanoformulation was developed and optimized using a combined mixture-process variable design (CMPV). The optimized formulation was converted into a hydrogel formula to enhance skin penetration and increase the efficacy in experimental cutaneous Candida albicans infections in Swiss mice wounds. The optimized formulation was generated at percentages of Span and Tween of 48% and 52%, respectively, and a sonication time of 6.6 min. The software predicted that the proposed formulation would achieve a particle size of 50 nm with a desirability of 0.997. The entrapment of luliconazole within the spanlastics carrier showed significant (p C. albicans.
