FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF FEXOFENADINE HYDROCHLORIDE LOADED CHITOSAN NANOPARTICLES FOR TREATMENT OF SKIN ALLERGY

An attempt was made to formulate and evaluate Fexofenadine HCl loaded chitosan nanoparticles using biodegradable polymers such as chitosan and sodium tripolyphosphate as a crosslinker in different ratio and proportions. In this formulation, Fexofenadine HCl was selected because of wide range of its use in treatment of skin allergy in the form of coated tablet and pediatric suspension. Different formulations of Fexofenadine HCl loaded chitosan nanoparticles were prepared containing 0.5%, 0.75% of chitosan and 0.5% STPP as crosslinker using ionic gelation technique. Nanoparticles were characterized for particle size determination, Polydispersity index, Zeta potential, % Entrapment Efficiency and in-vitro release study and Scanning Electron Microscopy. For the formulations F6-F10, no yield was formed which might be due to an insufficient amount of crosslinker to form the nanoparticles. F2 was selected as the best formulation to be incorporated into the gel base using carbopol 934P in different concentrations of 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1%. The formulated gels were evaluated in case of viscosity, spread ability, in-vitro release study, kinetic and skin irritation test. G1 was selected as the optimized gel for in-vivo study. Skin irritation was not observed from the in-vivo study. Thus, study revealed that the developed system has a great appeal for the convenient treatment of dermatological allergy which may overcome in improving the limitations of the existing drug delivery system.