Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology

The study involves development of bioadhesive vaginal films of ketoconazole for effective treatment against vaginal candidiasis. Films were formulated by solvent casting technique using bioadhesive polymers as HPMC K-100 and Sodium CMC in varying concentrations and PEG-400 as plasticizer. The films were evaluated for weight variation, thickness, folding endurance, tensile strength, percentage elongation and swelling properties and pH. The IR spectra of physical mixture also showed the characteristic peaks of pure drug indicating that there were no interaction between the drug and the polymers. Drug content in the film of all batches found to be uniform. The folding endurance was found to be increasing with the increase in polymer concentrations. The prepared bioadhesive films showed acidic pH. The films possess both flexibility and strength for desired effectiveness. Films showed increased percentage elongation with the increase in the polymer concentration. Ex-vivo mucoadhesion time varied from 8 to 20 hours and in vitro studies suggested that as the polymer concentration increases the drug release was found to be prolonged over a period of 7 hours. The results obtained during studies confirmed that bioadhesive vaginal film showed optimum physico– mechanical, pharmaceutical and biological properties thereby making the films effective in the treatment of vaginal candidiasis.