Development and Characterization of Chitosan Nanoparticles and Improvement of Oral Bioavailability of Poorly Water Soluble Acyclovir

The purpose of the present investigation is to develop and characterize chitosan nanoparticles through ionic gelation method and to improve oral bioavailability of poorly water soluble acyclovir drug by incorporating into nanoparticles. Nanparticles formulation were synthesized, and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), zeta potential etc. Further Nanoparticles formulation was evaluated for In vitro drug release studies and Stability study as per ICH guidelines. Formulation FM-1 showed maximum cumulative percent drug release and formulation FM-5 showed minimum cumulative percent drug release after 8 hours in-vitro drug release studies. Finally curve fitting into various mathematical models was found to be average and the in-vitro release of formulations best fitted into zero order release and Higuchi's model followed by the Peppas model. This indicates the nanoparticles followed Fickian controlled release mechanism.