Formulation and in vitro evaluation of polymeric metronidazole nanoparticles

The purpose of this research was to formulate metronidazole nanoparticles with the incorporation of acrylate methacrylate copolymer (Eudragit® RS 100) as the synthetic polymer using a nano spray-dryer. The formulated metronidazole nanoparticles were evaluated using scanning electron microscope, X-ray powder diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infra-red spectrophotometry. The results of the morphological analysis showed that the formulated nanoparticles were smooth, spherical with uniform distribution and polydispersity index (PDI) values between 0.31±0.12-0.39±0.14. The optimized formulation showed particle size in the range of 465.2±0.12-564.38±0.16 nm, zeta potential values ranged from 32.14±0.20-43.71±0.20 mV and entrapment efficiency had values between 34.19±0.51-39.28±1.10%. In vitro release analysis showed sustained release of metronidazole from the formulation with non-Fickian diffusion as the mechanism of drug release. The metronidazole nanoparticles formulated in this study was able to sustain the release of drug from the formulations which is a vital criterion for better patient adherence to therapy, improved therapeutic outcome and minimum incidence of adverse drug reaction and this can be exploited in the formulation of metronidazole nanoparticles in the management of amoebiasis, trichomoniasis and Helicobacter pylori-induced ulcer.