Clove essential oil encapsulated on nanocarrier based on polysaccharide: A strategy for the treatment of vaginal candidiasis

[Display omitted] This work aims to formulate a new semisolid pharmaceutical form based on clove essential oil and polysaccharides for the treatment of vaginal candidiasis. The nanoemulsions showed excellent colloidal stability with values of zeta potential higher than 30 mV in module, as well as hydrodynamic diameter between 198.8 and 321.0 nm and moderate polydispersity. The nanosystems did not show macroscopic instability phenomena and demonstrated adequate pH values for vaginal use. The presence of clove essential oil in the nanoemulsion was attested by a UV-Vis spectrophotometer with encapsulation efficiency greater than 99%. Emulsions based on carboxymethylcellulose and alginate (Ecmc and Ealgi, respectively) showed ferrous ion chelating ability in a range of 42-62%, with results superior to those of ascorbic acid. Ecmc formulation exhibited a higher inhibitory effect against Candida albicans and higher content of essential oil, being used in the formulation of emulgel. The rheological properties of the emulgel showed a non-Newtonian behavior, pseudoplastic type, with values of G' higher than G”, which characterizes the formation of a gel. The micrographs obtained by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) showed the incorporation of the nanoemulsion in the polymeric matrix, whose diameters corroborated with the results obtained by dynamic light scattering.