| Popis: |
Antimicrobial agents are drugs, chemicals, or other substances that either kill or slow the growth of microbes [1]. Antibacterial agents which kill bacteria, antiviral agents which kill viruses, antifungal agents which kill fungi, and antiparisitic drug which kill parasites are antimicrobial agents that are in use today [1, 2]. They have been used for the last 70 years to reduced illness and death from infectious diseases [1]. The necessity of antimicrobial agents has increased due to the development of resistance to antimicrobial agents. The antibacterial and antiviral properties for zinc sulfate and copper sulfate are well-known in agriculture and pharmaceutical industries [3-6]. The present research aims at formulating various topical dosage forms including a cream and gel with antiviral and antibacterial activity. Zinc sulfate and copper sulfate were used as the model drug substances. A cream and two gels formulations (C1, G1 and G5) were successfully incorporated with the drugs. C1 was prepared with oil-in-water emulsion cream base, G1 was prepared with carrageenan-based gel and G5 was designed by using hydroxylpropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC) based gel. Their physicochemical properties including color, physical appearance, homogeneity, and texture were evaluated. All formulated products were analyzed for spread ability, drug content, pH, viscosity and in vitro antibacterial studies against escherichia coli and staphylococcus aureus. The antibacterial activity for all formulations was determined and compared with the commercial products when a same amount of formulations were applied. The stability study of the formulations on physicochemical properties, viscosity and antibacterial activity was carried out at 4°C, 25°C and 40°C in glass and plastic containers for over a 12 week period. It was found that all of the formulations were good in appearance and homogeneity. The values of spreadability indicated that the formulated products exhibited better spreadibility than the commercial products. Further study is needed for drug content analysis due to a low percent of drug content was obtained. The pH for all formulations with drug was found to be lower than the formulations without drug. The viscosities for the formulated products at 10 rpm were found to be 44000 cps for C1, 33500 cps for G1 and 13900 cps for G5 with pseudoplastic behavior. Zinc and copper were found to have a synergistic antibacterial effect when they were used together in formulations. The desirable antibacterial activity for all formulations was observed in the concentration that were greater than 2% in both tested microorganisms, therefore, the final concentration that used in the formulations was 3% of both zinc sulfate and copper sulfate. The formulations showed significant zones of inhibition when compared with commercial products. The physicochemical properties for all three formulations were found to be stable at 4°C and 25°C for over a 12 week period in both glass and plastic containers. However, the results for viscosity and antibacterial activity were not consistent in all formulations. Therefore, further studies were suggested to provide an improved formulation. |
