Improvement of ocular penetration of amikacin sulphate by association to poly(butylcyanoacrylate) nanoparticles.

The main objective of this paper was to investigate the ability of polycyanoacrylate nanoparticles to improve the corneal penetration of hydrophilic drugs. Three different nanoparticle formulations were prepared by changing the nature of the stabilizer agent (Dextran 70000, Synperonic F 68 and sodium lauryl sulphate). The significant influence of the stabilizer type on the particle size, electrophoretic mobility and on the drug loading efficiency was proved. Moreover, the ocular disposition of amikacin was affected by its association to nanoparticles, displaying the most interesting results when Dextran 70000 was employed for preparation of nanoparticles. The increase of the amikacin concentration in cornea and aqueous humour was statistically significant for this nanoparticle formulation with respect to the other formulations and the control solution. The in-vitro release profiles obtained using a dialysis system were similar for all the nanoparticle formulations and for the control solution, indicating that drug molecules are desorbed from the nanoparticles quickly enough to maintain the equilibrium concentration in the dialysis system.