Development and Characterization of Cephradine Proniosomes for Oral Controlled Drug Delivery

The role of Proniosomes in oral controlled drug delivery system is well accepted. Presently, an attempt was made to develop cephradine (CP) Proniosomes to prolong its duration of action with better efficacy. Overall, eighteen formulation trials were developed using variable quantities of sorbitol (F0S-F8S) and maltodextrin (F0M-F8M) carriers along with span60 and cholesterol. Trials were evaluated for powder flowability, drug entrapment efficiency and in vitro drug release. Based on the mentioned characteristics, formulations F4M and F4S were optimized. Stability test was performed on optimized Proniosomes for three months at temperature (2-8°C). Comparison for antimicrobial sensitivity against Staphylococcus aureus was also made between optimized and marketed conventional CP capsule. More than 80% drug release was observed in 22 hr in the trial formulations. The optimized CP Proniosomes were found to be highly stable with % drug entrapment efficiency of 78.60±0.15 and 88.41±0.19 respectively for F4M and F4S. The prepared Proniosomes possessed higher bactericidal activity against S. aureus than reference products (M1 and M2). In conclusion, CP Proniosomes have been successfully prepared using sorbitol/maltodextrin carrier. Sorbitol carrier exhibited marginally better drug entrapment efficiency and bactericidal activity than the maltodextrin trial and marketed brands. This effort offers improved drug delivery with the potential of more effective controlled therapy.