Authors:

Abstract

A delivery system consisting of chitosan coated liposomes was tested for its ability to deliver drugs over a period of time. Amoxicillin was used as the drug of choice and was entrapped in liposomes made of egg yolk lecithin and coated with chitosan with the aid of Tween 80 and sodium tripolyphosphate. These nanoparticles were monitored for the release of the drug in vitro. The activity of the released amoxicillin was measured against Staphylococcus aureus (NCTC-6571 strain) in BHI broth medium. The percentage of drug released with time was measured by HPLC. The nanoparticles showed sustained release of amoxicillin over a period of 24 hours. Approximately 80 % of the encapsulated drug was released in the first 10 hours. A sufficient drug release to kill the bacteria was obtained in 4 hours and a steady increase in drug concentration was observed up to 8 hours of testing. This study has enabled the model formulation of a sustained release delivery system for amoxicillin in vitro capable of delivering the drug over a period of 8 hours, which may enable drug activity such that the number of times of administration is reduced.

Keywords: Amoxicillin, chitosan, drug-carrier system, liposome, sustained release