Evaluation of Antifungal Activity of Olive Oil Based Nanoemulsions

Addition of skin penetration enhancer in the formulation is the simplest and most common technique to improve transdermal permeation. However chemical penetration enhancers are known to cause skin irritation. In this research project we are proposing natural penetration enhancer (olive oil) based nano-emulsion. The aim of the present study was to investigate the olive oil based nano-emusion for poorly water soluble drug, fluconazole. Surfactant Tween 80 and co-surfactant n-butanol were selected on the basis of solubility and emulsification ability. Nanoemulsions were prepared by aqueous titration of 1:3.5 mixtures of olive oil and surfactants. Anti-fungal activities of fluconazole nano-emulsion formulations were compared with equivalent amount of fluconazole dissolved in vehicle only. Observed zone of inhibition by all treatment were statistically analyzed to achieve a valid conclusion by one-way analysis of variance with p<0.05 considered as significant. All tested samples were found effective against Aspergillus niger except blank nanoemulsion. The statistical analysis revealed that there is significant difference (p<0.05) between pure fluconazole and its formulations such as fluconazole nanoemulsions and gels and nanosuspension however there was no significant difference between the formulations.