A Review of Characteristics, Properties, Application of Nanocarriers and Analytical Methods of Luliconazole

Abstract

Luliconazole is an imidazole agent, used for the treatment of fungi infection, especially dermatophytes. The mechanism of action of the drug consisting in inhibits sterol 14α-demethylase which interferes with ergosterol biosynthesis. Due to low aqueous solubility and highly lipophilic, there is a need to develop drug delivery systems (nanocarriers) capable to increase the solubility, permeability, and skin retention of luliconazole, and promote a better therapeutic effect. In this context, this review presents characteristics, properties, nanocarriers, and analytical methods used for luliconazole. From the analyzed studies, the majority reports the use of RP-HPLC techniques for luliconazole determination, but also are cited spectrophotometric UV methods. The luliconazole has been qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed in different matrices, such as raw material and pharmaceutical formulations, however, in this review, only one study was found with the luliconazole quantification biological matrix, demonstrating the lack of studies related to the quantification of the drug in biological matrices. The drug quantification in different matrices by analytical methods is of great importance since they assist in the control of the quality, efficacy, and safety of the medicine.

Keywords:

• Analytical methods
• luliconazole
• nanocarriers
• physicochemical properties
• review

Disclosure of statement

No conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank the CNPq (Brazil) for the financial support (Project Universal CNPQ 457629 2014/2) and Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA) PDA 2020.