Gellan gum and sodium alginate in-situ gel of monocaprin for effective corneal permeation

Babies born to mothers suffering from gonorrhea may experience severe eye infections that might culminate in loss of vision. The eyes of the neonate can are infected with Neisseria gonorrhoeae, during birth. The primary goal of the study was to develop a stable aqueous ion-activated polymeric solution with clinically useful amounts of fatty acid-based monocaprin and a polymeric mixture of two commonly employed edible polysaccharide, sodium alginate and gellan gum. Monocaprin is an antibacterial agent against the treatment of gonococcal ophthalmia neonatorum, which was successfully formulated as an ion-activated in-situ gel-forming ophthalmic solution. The absence of drug-polymer interaction was confirmed from the FTIR study. The gelling capacity confirmed pH dependent (pH 7.2–7.4) sol-to-gel transition at 37°C±0.5°C. Formulation C4 was selected as the best formulation because it exhibited clear appearance, pH, good gelling capacity, optimum viscosity, 96.4% in-vitro drug release up to 11h. Formulation C4 also exhibited 96.6% drug release after 12h using goat cornea. The study results demonstrated remarkable enhancement in corneal permeation of in-situ gel in contrast to conventional eye drops. Sterility results showed no evidence of bacterial growth after 14 days in different media. The developed monocaprin incorporated sodium alginate and gellan gum based in situ gel formulation showed promising results with increased ocular residence and enhanced corneal permeability.