PREPARATION OF TERMINALIA CHEBULA LOADED CELLULOSE/CHITOSAN COMPOSITE FILMS AND THE EVALUATION OF DRUG RELEASE AND ANTIMICROBIAL CHARACTERISTICS

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is one of the major problems encountered by nearly 15 % of diabetic patients. Combinations of different antibiotics are used to treat the infection which makes the microorganism multi drug resistant. Among various types of drug delivery system, transdermal drug delivery is preferred in treating DFU because it delivers the drug directly to the wound site, which increases the rate of healing. Terminalia chebula (King of medicine) is known to possess wound healing ability and high antimicrobial activity against almost all bacteria isolated from DFU. In this scenario, we have fabricated different combinations of drug loaded composite films of cellulose acetate and chitosan. The formulated films were characterized using UV-visible and FT-IR spectrophotometer. Physicochemical characterization of the films was done with respect to drug uniformity, moisture uptake, folding endurance, drug release and antimicrobial studies. The antimicrobial activity of the films was evaluated for E.coli and B.subtilis and observed a good control of the growth of microorganism. The results suggest that the cellulose based films are well suited for DFU.