Development and evaluation of miconazole mucoadhesive tablets for oropharyngeal candidiasis

Purpose: To develop mucoadhesive tablets containing miconazole (MCZ) for the treatment of oropharyngeal candidiasis, using chitosan and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) as mucoadhesive polymers. Methods: Mucoadhesive tablets were formulated and optimized using a 23 factorial design and direct compression method. The independent variables were compression force and concentrations of chitosan and HPMC, while mucoadhesion time and in vitro drug release were dependent variables. Tablet characterization was carried out by evaluating hardness, thickness, tablet weight variation, content uniformity, friability and in vitro drug release at salivary pH (pH 6.8). Results: The tablets showed good mucoadhesion for an extended period (8 h), and their physical characteristics were within acceptable ranges. Drug release ranged from 60.5% to 80.8 %. Conclusion: These results indicate that the mucoadhesive MCZ tablets formulated with chitosan and HPMC possess potential for the development of therapeutic preparations for management of oropharyngeal candidiasis.