Neem seed oil and gum arabic-based oil-in-water emulsions as potential ocular drug delivery system

Abstract

The present study deciphers the synthesis and characterization of the neem seed oil (NSO) and gum arabic (GA) based emulsion. The synthesized emulsions were thoroughly characterized for probable application in ocular drug delivery. The synthesized emulsions were white in color. The FTIR spectroscopy divulged that the glycoprotein complex of GA retained its functional architecture. The formation of the oil-in-water emulsion was confirmed by confocal microscopy. The NSO droplets in the emulsions behaved as capacitive elements whose properties altered as the composition of the emulsions were varied. The mechanical studies suggested that the interactions within the emulsion components tailored the polymer-polymer integrity under stress. The drug release and corneal permeation studies using ciprofloxacin HCl-loaded emulsions indicated that the ciprofloxacin molecules were released from the emulsions, and the emulsions were able to deliver the drug across the corneal tissue. The prepared emulsions were nonirritant to the ocular tissues. The released drug was capable of inhibiting the growth of the model bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus). In gist, the prepared emulsions were suitable for ocular drug delivery applications.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Neem seed oil
• gum arabic
• emulsion
• ocular drug delivery
• anti-microbial
• ciprofloxacin

Additional information

Funding

The present study has been conducted under Indo-Korea joint research program of Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (Sanction order # INT/Korea/P-37, June 15, 2017) and under the framework of International Cooperation Program managed by the NRF (2016K1A3A1A19945059), Republic of Korea.