Abstract

This work is based on a natural polymer chitosan used in a nanoparticulate drug delivery system for the controlled release of amiodarone along with β-cyclodextrin. Amiodarone-loaded chitosan nanoparticles were prepared using the ionic gelation method aided by sonication. Amiodarone loading on chitosan nanoparticles was done under optimum conditions. For particle characterization; zeta-sizer, UV/Vis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, differential scanning calorimeter and scanning electron microscope techniques were used. In vitro drug release studies of amiodaroneloaded chitosan nanoparticles were performed using the dialysis diffusion technique. Drug loading and release values were determined using UV/Vis spectroscopy. Amiodarone encapsulated in nanoparticles was completely released at the end of 14 days. About 38 % was released at the end of day 1, 44% released at the end of day 3, 50 % released at the end of day 5 followed slow release. Amiodarone-loaded chitosan nanoparticles could serve as a model for controlled delivery of many antiarrhythmic drugs.