Formulation and Evaluation of Nano Particles of an Anti-viral Drug: A Treatment of Anti-retro Viral Therapy

The main aim of the present study is to formulate and evaluate Nanoparticles of Zidovudine so as to minimize adverse effect and dosing frequency. The incident of HIV is a major global public health issue in the world. HIV infection in the human body results mainly from the integration of the viral genome into the host cell for the purpose of cell replication. Based on the profound knowledge gained about the HIV replication cycle, several drug targets have been identified over the years and effective treatment options are currently available. The current clinical therapy, known as highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART), is considered as one of the most significant advances in the field of HIV therapy.

The conventional formulation of Zidovudine has many draw backs such as adverse side effect which result from accumulation of drugs in a multidose therapy, poor patience compliance and high cost. To overcome this Zidovudine Nanoparticles are prepared for the treatment of anti-retro viral therapy.

In this study nanoparticles of Zidovudine were prepared by Ionic gelation method by using different concentration of Chitosan (1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 mg/ml) and SodiumTripoly phosphate (0.4 %w/v). Acetic acid (0.25, v/v) was used to dissolve the chitosan and the 10 mg of Zidovudine drugs is added to each of the formulation (F1 to F16) and evaluated for various parameters such as Practical yield, Entrapment efficiency, Particles size, Charge determination, Drug release and Stability studies. Drug-Excipient compatibility study done by FTIR was found to be satisfactory. The Nanoparticles were found to be positive in nature. From SEM studies it was revealed that Zidovudine Nanoparticles are spherical in shape without any agglomeration. With increase in concentration of chitosan entrapment efficiency and % yield was found to increase whereas with increase in concentration of TPP, the particle size was found to reduce. Among these trials F11 formulation was found to be the better formulation as the particle size was found to be less, entrapment was found to be more and drug release was extended up to 8hr. The selected formulation was further subjected to stability study at room temperature and 4ºC and was found to be stable in terms of drug release and particle size.