Alginate coated chitosan nanogel for the controlled topical delivery of Silver sulfadiazine

Burn wounds environment favors the growth of micro-organisms causing delay in wound healing. The traditional treatment with antimicrobial creams offer inaccurate doses. The aim of the present study is to formulate and evaluate different silver sulfadiazine loaded nanogel formulations. A factorial design experiment was used for the identification of critical process parameters and for the optimization of the respective process conditions. The prepared drug loaded nanogels were characterized for their particle size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency and swelling index in order to demonstrate their physicochemical properties, in addition, FTIR, TEM, SEM and in vitro release were used for characterization. The release profile of all tested nanogels showed an initial burst followed by a slow and continuous release rate. An optimum nanogel formulation was predicted by the JMP^® software according to the stated prediction expressions and was composed of 0.4% sodium alginate (ALG) and 0.414% Silver sulfadiazine (SSD). The optimized formulation showed higher therapeutic efficacy in vivo when compared to market product.