ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF AMPHOTERICIN-B ETHOSOMAL GEL AGAINST CANDIDA ALBICANS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Amphotericin B is among the gold standard antifungal agents used for the treatment of the wide range of fungal infections. Work aimed to formulate the amphotericin B (AmB) ethosomal gel (EF), evaluate its antifungal activity against fungal isolates of human origin and compare its antifungal activity with marketed liposomal gel (MLG). AmB ethosomal gel (EF) was formulated and characterized for their physical appearance, pH, spreadability, viscosity, drug content, zeta potential, in-vitro diffusion study and in-vitro and in-vivo antifungal study. The results showed that pH value was within acceptable limits (6.2 ± 0.021). EF showed better spreadability than MLG. EF showed highest drug content (97.3 ± 0.43 %) than that of MLG (76 ± 0.32%), better spreadability and more negative zeta potential to confirm the stability of the formulation. AmB EF showed the highest zone of inhibition (28 ± 0.20 mm), in contrast to MLG (24 ± 0.13 mm) against Candida species. The in-vitro and in-vivo studies revealed effective therapeutic potential against Candida albicans induced dermal mycosis. Result of this study suggested that ethosomal gel be the most proficient carrier system for dermal and transdermal delivery of Amphotericin B for the treatment of dermatomycoses.