Preparation and Evaluation of Chitosan and PLGA Based Implants for the Delivery of Cefotaxime

The poor bioavailability of cefotaxime and limitation of conventional system limits the delivery of antibacterial drug cefotaxime for bone infection treatment. In the current study in situ chitosan implant containing cefotaxime was developed. Injectable implantable drug delivery system containing Cefotaxime was prepared by physically mixing β-glycerophosphate with chitosan in different concentrations. The objective of this study was to standardize the concentrations of the ingredients so as to develop formulation that remains liquid when stored at 4ºC but forms a gel, in minimum time, when injected or when its temperature is raised to 37oC. Injectable in-situ implant before injection was clear and transparent. Gelation temperature significantly increase from 32.6°C ±0.1 to 48.43°C ±0.1 of all formulation. Percentage drug content of all formulation were found in the range of 82.42±1.93 to 99.43±0.55. The syringeability of the final solutions greatly decreased with the increase of chitosan concentration. The release pattern for all formulations was biphasic, comprising an initial burst effect followed by an almost sustained continuous phase. After an initial burst release, the drug entrapped into the chitosan/Gp gel was released slowly. Local delivery of chemotherapeutic agent by controlled- release polymers is a new strategy with the potential to maximize the antibacterial effect of a drug to treat bone infection. The system formulated with cefotaxime was found to be stable and the release profiles of a formulation with chitosan and beta-GP showed almost Higuchi equation release kinetics. The drug release of chitosan imlant containing cefotaxime was found to be more as compare to PLGA implant.