Extraction and characterization of fungal chitosan and voriconazole loaded chitosan antifungal nanoformulations

Abstract

This study aimed at preparing chitosan nanoparticles (C.N.P.s) from fungal Chitosan for the purpose of producing nano-drug delivery systems for antifungal drugs. Chitosan was extracted from mycelia of Aspergillus niger using modified methods of George et al., (2011) and (Naghdi et al., 2014). For confirmation, the FTIR spectrum of the isolated Chitosan was compared with standard. A nanoformulation for Voriconazole antifungal drug was synthesized via ionic gelation method and characterized for their particle size, polydispersity index, surface charge, functional group composition using and Malvern Zeta Sizer ZS-90, P.C.S., FTIR, S.E.M. The prepared nanoformulation was also checked for its antifungal activity using Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus fumigatus as an indicator organism. Voriconazole showed maximum growth with no mycelial growth while CNPS showed minimum growth of about 70 percent, and Voriconazole loaded CNPS showed inhibitory growth effects on the mycelial growth of A. niger and A. fumigatus. Our results indicated that Chitosan Nanoparticles have huge potential against fungal diseases caused by Aspergillus species.