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Voriconazole Loaded Spanlastics: Design, Formulation, Optimization, and Randomized Controlled Clinical Insights for Vulvovaginal Candidiasis Therapy

Nermin M. Sheta, Rehab Nabil Shamma, Raghda R. S. Hussein, Sara Abdallah Mohamed Salem, Lamiaa N. Abdelaty, Mahmoud M. Abd El Gawad, Khaled M. Abdel-Haleem

AAPS PharmSciTech, 2025

16 citations

Abstract

Abstract Voriconazole, a potent antifungal agent, has emerged as a promising candidate for managing vulvovaginal candidiasis. The market availability of voriconazole as tablets or injections, along with potential side effects, highlights the need for a successful alternative delivery system. Through comprehensive experimental design, voriconazole-loaded spanlastics were developed using a 32-factorial design. The optimized system based on factorial outcomes exhibited desirable characteristics in terms of entrapment efficiency (74.31 ± 0.39%), vesicle size (246.4 ± 2.2 nm), polydispersibility index (0.369 ± 0.01), & zeta potential (-37.5 ± 0.17 mV). Further characterization for the optimized system was performed in terms of transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and in-vitro antifungal assessment, where the latter showcased the potent effectiveness of voriconazole against various Candida species. Moreover, the integration of the optimized voriconazole-loaded spanlastic system into a gel was implemented for the assessment of ex-vivo permeation through the vaginal mucosa of rats, where the optimized system gel revealed a remarkable 1.3-fold enhancement in permeation relevant to the control VCZ gel. Notably, the clinical performance of optimized system gel was involved in a randomized controlled study for assessment of safety and efficacy in comparison to a market product (Canesten® 2% clotrimazole). Clinical evaluation revealed that the…

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Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design.

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