Miconazole Nitrate Microparticles in Lidocaine Loaded Films as a Treatment for Oropharyngeal Candidiasis

Abstract

Oral candidiasis is an opportunistic infection that affects mainly individuals with weakened immune system. Devices used in the oral area to treat this condition include buccal films, which present advantages over both oral tablets and gels. Since candidiasis causes pain, burning, and itching, the purpose of this work was to develop buccal films loaded with both lidocaine (anesthetic) and miconazole nitrate (MN, antifungal) to treat this pathology topically. MN was loaded in microparticles based on different natural polymers, and then, these microparticles were loaded in hydroxypropyl methylcellulose-gelatin-based films containing lidocaine. All developed films showed adequate adhesiveness and thickness. DSC and XRD tests suggested that the drugs were in an amorphous state in the therapeutic systems. Microparticles based on chitosan-alginate showed the highest MN encapsulation. Among the films, those containing the mentioned microparticles presented the highest tensile strength and the lowest elongation at break, possibly due to the strong interactions between both polymers. These films allowed a fast release of lidocaine and a controlled release of MN. Due to the latter, these systems showed antifungal activity for 24 h. Therefore, the treatment of oropharyngeal candidiasis with these films could reduce the number of daily applications with respect to conventional treatments.

Special Issue: “Functionalized Nanomaterials and Structures for Biomedical Applications”

“…The first volume of this Special Issue dedicated to biomedical applications of functionalized nanomaterials comprises eleven articles, including nine research papers and two reviews. G. Tejada, D. Leonardi, et al [1] developed a buccal film based on natural polymers for simultaneous delivery of miconazole nitrate (MN; an antifungal) and lidocaine hydrochloride (LDCH; an anesthetic) in the topical treatment of oropharyngeal candidiasis. They prepared chitosan (CHI)-alginate (ALG) (50-50%) microparticles loaded with MN and then dispersed these microparticles in hydroxypropyl methylcellulose-gelatinbased films containing LDCH.…”