Carbomer and ethyl cellulose optimisation in the preparation of mucoadhesive microspheres ciprofloxacin hydrochloride

Abstract

Background: Ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CH) is an antibiotic used to treat urinary tract infections. CH has a short half-life and low bioavailability. Microspheres combined with a mucoadhesive system can increase the residence time of the drug in the stomach to increase the bioavailability of CH. Objective: This research was conducted to obtain the best amount of carbomer as a polymer mucoadhesive and ethyl cellulose as a matrix polymer based on factorial design. Method: The factorial design 22 was used to determine the amount of carbomer and ethyl cellulose to produce optimum mucoadhesive microspheres. Three responses were observed in this study: particle size, entrapment efficiency, and mucoadhesive strength. Result: The resulting entrapment efficiency was 69.0%, particle size was 404.52 nm, and mucoadhesive strength was 64.3 grams, with drug loading and yield values of 19.13% and 99.8%, respectively. Conclusion: The optimum formula with the highest response value is the formula containing 300 mg carbomer and 1000 mg ethyl cellulose.