DESIGN AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SUSTAINED RELEASE LEVOFLOXACIN OCULAR INSERTS

Levofloxacin is a fluoroquinolone antibacterial drug effective in the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis. The objective of the present work was to develop ocular inserts of levofloxacin and evaluate their potential for sustained ocular delivery. Conventional ophthalmic solution shows the poor bioavailability and therapeutic response due t many pre-corneal constraints. These constrains necessitates the controlled and sustained drug delivery to become standard one in modern pharmaceutical era Matrix type ocular inserts were prepared by the film casting technique in Teflon coated Petri dishes and characterized in vitro by drug release studies using a flow through apparatus that simulated the eye conditions. Nine formulations were developed, which differed in the ratio of polymers - chitoson, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). All the formulations were subjected to evaluation of thickness, weight variation, folding endurance, drug content uniformity, in vitro release study, Surface pH, Swelling Studies (Swelling Index), % Moisture absorption, Release Kinetics, and Ocular Irritation Studies. On the basis of in vitro drug release studies, the formulation L9 was found to be better than the other formulations and it was selected as an optimized formulation.