Research Article
FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF NANOPARTICLES CONTAINING ARTEMISININ HCL
Abstract
The present study deals with the formulation and evaluation of Artemisinin HCl nanoparticles. Artemisinin is a sesquiterpene lactone chemical extract from Artemisia annua (sweet wormwood), is poorly soluble in water and a fast-acting blood schizonticide effective in treating the acute attack of malaria (including chloroquine – resistant and celebral malaria). Artemisinin are effective against multi-resistant strains of P. falciparum. The purpose of the present work is to minimize the dosing frequency, taste masking and toxicity and to improve the therapeutic efficacy by formulating Artemisinin HCl nanoparticles. Artemisinin HCl nanoparticles were formulated by solvent evaporation method using polymer poly(ε-caprolactone) with five different formulations. Nanoparticles were characterized by determining its particle size, polydispersity index, drug entrapment efficiency, particle morphological character and drug release. The particle size ranged between 100nm to 240nm. Drug entrapment efficacy was > 99%. The in-vitro release of nanoparticles were carried out which exhibited a sustained release of Artemisinin HCl from nanoparticles up to 24hrs. The results showed that nanoparticles can be a promising drug delivery system for sustained release of Artemisinin HCl.
