ABSTRACT:
Ocular drug delivery was considered a challenging approach for many decades, due to the limitation in the bioavailability in addition to the common drawbacks of the conventional eye preparations represented with blurred vision, pre-corneal elimination and high variability. For this reason, six different ion- induced ocular in-situ gel were formulated containing combination of ciprofloxacin and naproxen using sodium alginate and gellan gum in three different concentrations (0.1, 0.3 and 0.5%) as ion cross-linking polymers in conjugation with HPMC as viscosity enhancer. These were characterized for clarity, pH and drug content, in addition to the evaluation of their in-situ gelling capacity and rheological properties. Moreover, in- vitro dissolution analysis and antimicrobial studies were performed to ensure the proper releases and the effectiveness of the formulas. The results revealed that all prepared formulas exhibited a clear, transparent appearance with acceptable pH and drug content. Furthermore, the prepared formula (F3) containing 0.5% sodium alginate was selected as the optimal formula, having best gelling capacity and viscosity which gives an ideal release profile for extended period up to 8 hours. Finally, the antimicrobial study proves the effectiveness of the prepared formula with greater zone of inhibition compared to the conventional ciprofloxacin eye drop. As a result, we can conclude the successful preparation of sustained release ocular in-situ gel of ciprofloxacin and naproxen that can be considered as an effective replacement to the available eye drops of both drugs which used to prevent bacterial infection and minimizing the inflammation followed the surgical operation of cataract.