Formulation and Characterization of Amphotericin B Loaded Nanostructured Lipid Carriers Using Microfluidizer

Amphotericin B (BCS-Class IV) is the major treatment available against the fatal infection of Visceral leishmaniasis. Conventional chemotherapy of AMB is challenging because of its severe and potentially lethal side-effects i.e., nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity. Therefore, there is an urgent need of designing novel, leishmanicidal drug carriers for safe and effective management of VL. Colloidal carriers like liposomes, niosomes and emulsomes offer better therapeutic efficacy over the conventional treatment with reduced side effects and toxicity but suffer with the stability problem. Lipid nanoparticles are stable, biodegradable, biocompatible carrier offering excellent therapeutic efficacy. Here, an effort has been made to prepare novel nanostructured lipid carriers of AMB to increase therapeutic efficacy and reduced toxicity with the use of microfluidizer. Different formulations were prepared and optimized by varying pressure and number of cycles. Formulations were selected for further studies on the basis of particle size and particle size distribution. The drug entrapment efficiency was achieved up to 90.1% with particle size 148 ± 2.7 nm of the formulation and zeta potential of –30 ± 1.8 mV. The optimized formulation was found stable for more than 6 months in terms of particle size and size distribution. The characterization of the formulation was done using Scanning Electron Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy. The in vitro release profile of the AMB loaded NLCs showed 65% drug release within 24 hours. The optimized formulations were found within the permissible range of haemolysis and cytotoxicity. The findings suggested that it would be preferable to deliver AMB through nanostructured lipid carriers.