Formulation and Evaluation of Ofloxacin Microspheres using Natural Gum Polymers

Ofloxacin is a fluoroquinolones antibacterial agent with a broad spectrum of activity against gram positive and negative bacteria. It is used in urinary and respiratory tract infections, gonorrhea and skin. Conventional doses vary from 200-600 mg twice or thrice a day, as per severity of infection and its biological half-life is 5-6 hrs. In present study, Ofloxacin microspheres were formulated using polymer and natural gums such as Guar gum and Xanthan gum as rate controlling material by ionic crosslinking technique with an aim to prolong its release. All formulations prepared by using different drug-polymer ratios, were evaluated for relevant parameters. Depending upon the drug-polymer ratio of Guar gum, the percentage yield and encapsulation efficiency of microspheres were found to range between 89.17±6.02 to 94.61±4.95% and 78.40±5.08 to 83.89±4.17% respectively. Also the drug to polymer ratio of Xanthan gum, the percentage yield and encapsulation efficiency were found to range between 90.12±6.22 to 93.02±5.39% and 65.52±4.27 to 72.73±3.88%, respectively. All prepared Microspheres were spherical, discrete and compact in shape and size distribution was between 44.32-50.17 µm. In-vitro studies were carried out at different pH for a period of 12 hr. Guar gum (GG3) formulations was 93.26% and Xanthan gum (XG3) was 82.54% for better sustained release. Stability studies of selected ofloxacin microspheres showed good results. It could be also concluding that the all the formulations were shown satisfactory results.