Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

1-1-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S. in Pharmaceutical Science

First Advisor

Soumyajit Majumdar

Second Advisor

Walter G. Chambliss

Third Advisor

Michael A. Repka

Relational Format

dissertation/thesis

Abstract

The study aimed to develop an in-situ gel that could potentially be sprayed on the skin for faster and enhanced wound healing. Quercetin (QCT) is a bioflavonoid, which has potent anti-inflammatory properties and has shown enhanced wound closure along with good antimicrobial activity, particularly against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) which typically infect a wound. Moxifloxacin Hydrochloride (MOX) is a broad-spectrum antibiotic that has topically shown activity against Methicillin Resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and, in combination with Quercetin, could provide better and quicker wound healing as compared to the current treatment available. QCT and MOX nanoemulsions were formulated with Maisine CC (0.6% w/v) as the oil phase, Tween 80 and Gelucire 50/13 as the surfactant system in a ratio of 1:1 at three different total surfactant concentrations (4%, 6% and 8%), and Transcutol HP (0.6% w/v) as the co-surfactant. These nanoemulsions were further formulated into nanoemulgels. Stability studies performed for 30 days indicated that the nanoemulsion formulation with 8% surfactant could be a potential lead formulation due to good physicochemical stability. Considering formulations with 6% surfactant as the intermediate level, nanoemulgel placebos were evaluated for finalizing the appropriate Poloxamer concentrations which could give desirable viscosity and gelling behavior. Accordingly, a combination of 12%w/v Poloxamer 407 and 8%w/v Poloxamer 188 was selected for the nanoemulgel formulation since they exhibited a viscosity lower than 250 cP at 25° C, which is ideal for spraying, and showed a viscosity of 8241.8 cP close to 37° C with and a gelling temperature of 31.2° C. This lead nanoemulgel formulation should be evaluated further and additional surfactant concentrations, 4%, and 8%, should also be tested. A potential interaction between QCT and MOX and a potential synergistic wound healing properties between them could also be evaluated as a part of future studies.

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