Chitosan based nanocarriers for indomethacin ocular delivery

Two different chitosan (CS) nanocarriers namely nanoparticles and nanoemulsion were developed to prolong Indomethacin (IM) precorneal residence time and to improve its ocular bioavailability the main limitations in its management of post-operative inflammation and intraocular irritation after cataract extraction. CS-nanoparticles were developed by modified ionic gelation of CS with tripolyphosphate while nanoemulsion was prepared by spontaneous emulsification technique. Transmission electron microscopy revealed regular well-identified spherical shape. The nanoparticles had a mean size of 280 nm, a zeta potential of + 17 mV and high loading efficiency of 84.8 % while the mean size of nanoemulsion was affected by the nature of the surfactant used and varies between 220–690 nm. In vitro release studies, performed under sink conditions, revealed small initial burst release during the first hour followed by slow gradual drug release of 76 and 86% from nanoparticles and nanoemulsion respectively during a 24 h peroid. In vivo studies and histopathological examination revealed that eyes of rabbits treated with nanoemulsion showed clearer healing of corneal chemical ulcer with moderate effective inhibition of polymorph nuclear leuckocytic infiltration (PMNLs) compared with nanoparticles preparation. Moreover, following topical instillation of CS-nanoemulsion to rabbits, it was possible to achieve therapeutic concentration of IM in the cornea through out the duration of the study and fairly high IM level in inner ocular structure, aqueous humor. These levels were significantly higher than those obtained following instillation of IM solution. Therefore, CS nanocarriers developed in this study were able to contact intimately with the cornea providing slow gradual IM release with long-term drug level thereby increasing delivery to both external and internal ocular tissues.