Design and Development of Luliconazole Topical Hydrogel for Fungal Infections

Luliconazole is an antifungal medicine used for the treatment of fungal infections. Luliconazole has a restrictive pharmaceutical role because of its poor aqueous solubility and skin penetration capability, which reduces the bioavailability of the drug. The present investigation was carried out to formulate and evaluate the Luliconazole nanocrystals loaded hydrogel. Nanocrystals were prepared by the modified nanoprecipitation method and were stabilized by using poloxamer 188 and PVP K-30 as stabilizers. The nanocrystals were developed by varying the concentration of surfactant and stirring speed to study the effect of particle size and PDI as dependent variables. The prepared batch was evaluated for various parameters. The prepared batch showed a particle size of 234.2nm and PDI of 0.430. Optical microscope revealed plate-like morphology of nanocrystals. Nanocrystals showed a surface charge of -24.7 mV. Results of the saturation solubility study suggested an improvement in the solubility of Luliconazole. The nanocrystal formulation was incorporated into hydrogel prepared using 1% w/w Polyvinyl alcohol and studied for Physical appearance, pH, drug content uniformity, viscosity, spreadability, in-vitro drug release study, kinetic studies, and stability studies. The prepared hydrogel was homogenous with 86.72% drug content and % cumulative drug release of 83.45% at the end of 8hrs. Stability studies indicated that hydrogel loaded with Luliconazole nanocrystal was stable. The findings of the study suggested that the developed formulation would be a promising delivery system with improved efficacy, controlled release, and patient compliance.