Development and Evaluation of In-Situ Gel Containing Ornidazole Loaded Microspheres for Treatment of Periodontitis.

The present investigation aims at developing novel injectable in-situ gel containing ornidazole (ORDZ) loaded chitosan microspheres for treatment of periodontal disease. Microspheres were prepared by emulsification-ionotropic gelation method. Prepared microspheres were evaluated extensively for particle size, equilibrium swelling studies, bioadhesion, percentage drug release and antimicrobial activity. The mean diameter of the microspheres was found in the range of 29.1-52.65 µm. The microspheres showed good swelling properties. Percentage equilibrium swelling was dependent upon the amount of chitosan. The in vitro drug release and bioadhesion studies were dependent on the extent of crosslinking and chitosan concentration. The ORDZ–loaded microspheres showed drug encapsulation in the range of 11.02±0.98 - 32.45±0.62 % and sustained the release up to 5 days. The drug release from microspheres was diffusion controlled. The antimicrobial study indicated inhibition of growth of Staphylococcus aureus at all drug concentrations of in vitro release samples. In situ gel containing optimized microspheres extended the drug release up to 7 days. Results of the study demonstrated good bioadhesion of the in-situ gel containing microspheres as well as exhibited sustained release of drug. The in-situ gel containing ORDZ- loaded chitosan microspheres may be an efficient alternative to the other known delivery systems for treatment of Periodontitis.

Development and optimization of interpenetrating network beads of Delonix regia gum and sodium alginate using response surface methodology.

The aim of present investigation was to develop and optimize sustained release interpenetrating network (IPN) beads of Delonix regia seed polysaccharide (DRG) and sodium alginate using response surface methodology. Diclofenac sodium (DS) was chosen as model drug. A central composite design was used to study and optimize the effect of independent variables (A: sodium alginate:DRG ratio and B: calcium chloride concentration) on drug encapsulation efficiency (DEE, %) and drug release in 8h (R8h, %). Total thirteen batches of DRG-alginate IPN beads were prepared by ionotropic gelation method using calcium chloride as a cross-linking agent. The DEE (%) of the beads was found in the range 32.79-56.54%. Swelling of beads was high in phosphate buffer (pH 6.8) whereas, less in 0.1 N HCl (pH 1.2). The beads exhibited sustained release of DS for 8h (65.6±0.98 - 99.9±1.87%) and followed Higuchi model demonstrating non-fickian diffusion mechanism. The observed responses of the optimized batch were similar to the predicted values determined by Design Expert (V.7.0, Stat-Ease Inc, USA) software. The optimized DRG-alginate IPN beads may show good encapsulation of water soluble drugs followed by their sustained release for 8h which might be advantageous in terms of advanced patient compliance with reduced dosing interval.