Proniosomes as a novel drug carrier for the delivery of ketoprofen

Nanotechnology is an advancing technology expected to bring revolutionary changes in the field of life sciences including drug delivery, diagnostics, neutraceuticals and biomedicals for implants and prosthesis. One of the advancement in nanotechnology is the preparation of proniosomes derived niosomes. Proniosomes are solid colloidal particles which may be hydrated immediately before use to yield aqueous niosomal dispersions similar to those produced by conventional methods. These ‘proniosomes’ minimize problems of niosomes physical stability such as aggregation, fusion and leaking and provide additional convenience in transportation, distribution, storage, and dosing. Ketoprofen loaded maltodextrin based proniosomes were prepared by slurry method with different surfactant to cholesterol ratio. The proniosome formulations were evaluated for flow property, morphological and size analysis studies. The niosomal suspensions were further evaluated for entrapment efficiency, in vitro release study, kinetic data analysis and stability study. The result from SEM analysis has confirmed the coating of surfactant on the surface of carrier. The formulation F4 which showed higher entrapment efficiency of 82.64% and in vitro release of 90.4% at the end of 12 hr was found to be best among the all 7 formulation. Release was best explained by the zero order kinetics. Kinetic analysis shows that the drug release follows super case II transport diffusion. Proniosome formulation has showed appropriate stability for six months when compared with reconstituted niosomes by storing the formulation at accelerated condition.