The purpose of this study was to prepare miconazole nitrate (MN) loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (MN-SLN) effective for topical
delivery of miconazole nitrate. Compritol 888 ATO as lipid, propylene glycol (PG) to increase drug solubility in lipid, tween
80, and glyceryl monostearate were used as the surfactants to stabilize SLN dispersion in the SLN preparation using hot homogenization
method. SLN dispersions exhibited average size between 244 and 766 nm. All the dispersions had high entrapment efficiency
ranging from 80% to 100%. The MN-SLN dispersion which showed good stability for a period of 1 month was selected. This MN-SLN
was characterized for particle size, entrapment efficiency, and X-ray diffraction. The penetration of miconazole nitrate from
the gel formulated using selected MN-SLN dispersion as into cadaver skins was evaluated
ex-vivo using franz diffusion cell. The results of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that MN was dispersed in SLN in
an amorphous state. The MN-SLN formulations could significantly increase the accumulative uptake of MN in skin over the marketed
gel and showed a significantly enhanced skin targeting effect. These results indicate that the studied MN-SLN formulation
with skin targeting may be a promising carrier for topical delivery of miconazole nitrate.
Key words miconazole nitrate - skin targeting - solid lipid nanoparticles - topical delivery