Formulation and characterization of nonionic surfactant/cholesterol niosomes for abacavir sulphate encapsulation

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to develop a niosome formulation of guanosine analog antiretroviral drug abacavir Sulphate for controlled drug delivery. Niosome formulations were prepared by thin film hydration method using surfactants like span 20, 40, 60 & 80 and tween 20, 40, 60 & 80 with cholesterol as membrane stabilizer and dicetyl phosphate as a negative charge inducer. The formulations were evaluated for vesicle formation, vesicle size, size distribution, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency, drug content and in-viro drug release. Vesicle size and size distribution were evaluated by zetasizer revealed that particle size of 135.0±8.837 to 185.0±13.402 nm and uniform size distribution of niosome. Encapsulation efficacy study report indicated that tween 60 with DCP niosomes exhibited highest encapsulation of 83.02 (±1.085)% and release study demonstrated that 89.56 (±2.090) % of abacavir released over a period of 24 hours. The optimized niosomes showed spherical morphology with smooth exterior under transmission electron microscope (TEM). FT-IR studies, confirmed that absence of chemical interaction between abacavir sulphate and other formulation components of niosome. The stability studies suggested that the more stability of niosome formulation at refrigerated conditions than room temperature. It is evident from this study that niosomal formulation could be a gifted delivery system for abacavir sulphate with prolonged drug release profiles.