Introduction

Introduction: Doxycycline (DOXI) is a wide-spectrum antimicrobial drug used for urinary, intestinal, respiratory, ocular, dental, dermatological, and sexually transmitted infections. The development of drug delivery systems based on carriers like nanoparticles (NP) allow to overcome limitations like instability in biological environment, bacterial resistance, and poor cellular penetration. Also, cationic nanocarriers may allow interaction with bacterial membranes or mucus layers to improve the bactericidal action.

Aim

Aim: To develop and to characterize a drug delivery system for DOXI based on cationic gelatin nanoparticles, intended to mucus delivery for antibacterial therapy.

Materials and methods

Materials and methods: Gelatin nanoparticles were prepared using the desolvation method, where the effect of stirring speed, concentration of Pluronic F-68, gelatin and volume of crosslinking agent were investigated. The system was characterized by particle size, zeta potential, FT-IR, SEM, Entrapment efficiency and mathematical modeling of in vitro profile release.

Results and discussion

Results and discussion: A stable nanoparticle dispersion (~200 nm, PDI>0.3) was obtained with high entrapment efficiency (~60%) and cationic surface properties, with prolonged release for 8 h.

Conclusions

Conclusions: The process factors and formulation studied successfully lead a doxycycline loaded cationic gelatin nanoparticles with desirable characteristics. The NP showed prolonged release for 8 hours with an anomalous transport as main mechanism of drug delivery. The system prepared own cationic surface properties to be a possible mucoadhesive system.