Nanomaterials (Apr 2024)

Physiochemical Characterization of Lipidic Nanoformulations Encapsulating the Antifungal Drug Natamycin

  • Luigi Talarico,
  • Ilaria Clemente,
  • Alessandro Gennari,
  • Giulia Gabbricci,
  • Simone Pepi,
  • Gemma Leone,
  • Claudia Bonechi,
  • Claudio Rossi,
  • Simone Luca Mattioli,
  • Nicola Detta,
  • Agnese Magnani

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/nano14080726
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 8
p. 726

Abstract

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Natamycin is a tetraene polyene that exploits its antifungal properties by irreversibly binding components of fungal cell walls, blocking the growth of infections. However, topical ocular treatments with natamycin require frequent application due to the low ability of this molecule to permeate the ocular membrane. This limitation has limited the use of natamycin as an antimycotic drug, despite it being one of the most powerful known antimycotic agents. In this work, different lipidic nanoformulations consisting of transethosomes or lipid nanoparticles containing natamycin are proposed as carriers for optical topical administration. Size, stability and zeta potential were characterized via dynamic light scattering, the supramolecular structure was investigated via small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering and 1H-NMR, and the encapsulation efficiencies of the four proposed formulations were determined via HPLC-DAD.

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