Development of Carrageenan Polymer for Encapsulation of Ciprofloxacin HCl: In Vitro Characterization

This study reported the properties of microspheres based Carrageenan polymers with Ciprofloxacin HCl antibiotic as a model for dry powder inhalation (DPI). Microspheres Ciprofloxacin-Carrageenan was prepared through ionic gelation process which is a widely used microencapsulation technique in the pharmaceutical industry. Microspheres formula consists of formula using 0.5 and 1% carragenan polymer and 0.2 and 0.6% KCl crosslinker which was named as F1, F2, F3 and F4. Microspheres were characterized for their yield, morphology, entrapment efficiency, drug loading and particle size. Results revealed that ionic gelation technique was a suitable technique for preparation of microspheres as most of the formulations were small in size, spherical in shape with a good yield of 46% to 89%. Based on the data of various evaluations such as drug entrapment efficiency, drug loading and particle size, formula F3 was found as the best DPI formula. Microspheres were successfully prepared and this study can be concluded that the developed microspheres of ciprofloxacin HCl-Carrageenan can be used for pulmonary system to improve the release mechanism and drug bioavailabilit