Encapsulation of Beta-lactam Antibiotic Amoxicillin in Chitosan-alginate Nanohydrogels to Improve Antibacterial Efficacy

Nanotechnology offers several opportunities to improve conventional drugs to avoid issues that pharmaceutical industries are facing nowadays. Hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs have been found to be more readily soluble in mixed polymer nanohydrogels, which improves their solubility in solution. An attempt has been made in the present study to enhance the efficacy of beta-lactam antibiotics by making nanoformulation using mixed polymer nanohydrogels derived from natural polymers sodium alginate and chitosan. As a consequence, this formulation permitted amoxicillin (MOX) to be entrapped in alginate hydrogels and, in addition, chitosan-induced cationic charges on the surface of nanoparticles. Physicochemical characterizations and swelling properties, encapsulation efficiency, MOX release profile at different pH, and MTT assay to establish the toxicity of synthesized nanocomposite were investigated.   There was a significant improvement in the effectiveness of the encapsulated drug amoxicillin against Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli compared to the aqueous solution of the drug. It has been calculated that the encapsulation efficiency was approximately 64% by spectrophotometry, and antibiotic sensitivity tests in the presence of Gram-negative bacteria have shown that the encapsulated drug within nanohydrogels has superior antibacterial efficacy against them. This formulation with cationic surface charge may be a superior alternative to inactivate beta-lactam antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria than the standard medications available.