¹Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, Assam, India
²Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture Technology and Sciences (SHUATS), Prayagraj, India DOI : 10.29228/jrp.736 Oropharyngeal candidiasis, an opportunistic fungal infection, is caused by Candida albicans. Conventional formulations of antifungal drug, miconazole nitrate (MN), have limited retention on the infected oral mucosa, leading to its rapid clearance from the affected site. Aim of present study was to design and optimize MN buccal mucoadhesive wafer formulation for enhanced retention time as well as controlled drug release. Varying ratios of anionic, cationic and nonionic polymers were used to prepare wafers by freeze-drying method. Drug excipient interaction studies were performed by fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis. Formulations were further evaluated by various wafer quality assessment parameters. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies were performed for surface analysis and solid state characterization, respectively, of prepared formulations. In vitro drug release studies of optimized formulations were performed and release kinetics was evaluated. Wafer formulations with anionic polymers exhibited acceptable results of swelling, adhesiveness and folding endurance analysis. Optimized formulations showed controlled release of MN by non-Fickian diffusion. Results suggest that buccoadhesive wafer formulated by anionic polymers may be utilized to achieve desired therapeutic effects of MN. Keywords : Mucoadhesive; polymer; antifungal; formulation; release kinetics