Vaginal candidiasis, a common yet often neglected infection, poses significant discomfort and health risks for women worldwide. Traditional antifungal therapies are often limited by poor solubility and low bioavailability—especially in the case of hydrophobic drugs like clotrimazole. This project set out to address these challenges by designing a novel, smart drug delivery system that could respond to both therapeutic needs and physiological conditions.
The idea was simple but innovative: to create a nanocarrier system that not only improves drug solubility but also enhances antifungal efficacy through the integration of silver nanoparticles—known for their antimicrobial properties. Using carefully synthesized polymeric micelles as the core delivery vehicle, we encapsulated clotrimazole and functionalized it with silver. These micelles were then embedded into a thermosensitive hydrogel designed to transition at body temperature, allowing rapid and sustained distribution across the vaginal mucosa. The result is a biocompatible, injectable system with the potential to deliver targeted and extended antifungal therapy where it’s needed most.
Advanced Material Design: Two triblock copolymers, PCL-PEG-PCL and PEG-PCL-PEG, were successfully synthesized and used to form polymeric micelles capable of encapsulating both clotrimazole and silver nanoparticles.
Synergistic Antifungal Activity: By combining clotrimazole with silver, the formulation showed enhanced antifungal properties against Candida albicans—demonstrating a synergistic therapeutic effect not achievable by either agent alone.
Efficient Drug Loading: The micellar system exhibited an impressive drug encapsulation efficiency of 64.53%, with 14.6% drug loading content, confirming its potential for efficient drug transport.
Biocompatibility Confirmed: Cytotoxicity tests using HEK293T cells revealed that the formulation remains highly biocompatible at therapeutic concentrations, maintaining over 80% cell viability up to 125 μg/mL.
Smart Hydrogel Integration: The silver-loaded micelles were successfully incorporated into a thermosensitive hydrogel, which transforms from a liquid to a gel at physiological temperature—ensuring localized and sustained drug release.
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