Polishing the Therapy of Onychomycosis Induced by <i>Candida</i> spp.: Amphotericin B–Loaded Nail Lacquer

oleh: Aleph M. S. Souza, Renato C. A. Ribeiro, Gleyse K. L. O. Pinheiro, Francisco I. Pinheiro, Wógenes N. Oliveira, Luanda B. F. C. Souza, André L. Silva, Lucas Amaral-Machado, Éverton N. Alencar, Guilherme M. Chaves, Eryvaldo S. T. Egito

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2021-05-01

Deskripsi

Onychomycosis induced by <i>Candida</i> spp. has several limitations regarding its treatment. Nail lacquers display the potential to overcome these drawbacks by providing therapeutic compliance and increasing local drug bioavailability. Thus, this work aimed to produce a nail lacquer loaded with Amphotericin B (AmB) and evaluate its performance. The AmB-loaded nail lacquer was produced and preliminarily characterized. An AmB quantification method was developed. Stability, drug release, permeability and anti-<i>Candida</i> activity assays were conducted. The analytical method validation met the acceptance criteria. The drug loading efficiency was 100% (0.02 mg/g of total product), whereas the AmB stability was limited to ≅7 days (≅90% remaining). The nail lacquer displayed a drying time of 187 s, non-volatile content of around 20%<i><sub>w/w</sub></i>, water-resistance of approximately 2%<i><sub>w/w</sub></i> of weight loss and satisfactory in vitro adhesion. Moreover, the in vitro antifungal activity against different <i>Candida</i> spp. strains was confirmed. The AmB release and the ex vivo permeability studies revealed that AmB leaves the lacquer and permeates the nail matrix in 47.76 ± 0.07% over 24 h. In conclusion, AmB-loaded nail lacquer shows itself as a promising extemporaneous dosage form with remarkable anti-<i>Candida</i> activity related to onychomycosis.