Harnessing Azadirachta indica Fruit Mucilage in Mucoadhesive Microspheres for Effective Viral Infection Mitigation: Design-Expert Guided Optimization

Aim The research aimed to investigate the enhanced mucoadhesive properties of Azadirachta indica fruit mucilage AIFM when incorporated into mucoadhesive microspheres containing Acyclovir as a representative model drug.Methods Nine formulations of mucoadhesive microspheres were created incorporating Carbopol-934P and different ratios of AIFM. A central composite design was employed using Design-Expert software to assess the influence of independent variables concentrations of polymers on the dependent variable mucoadhesive strength. The microspheres underwent compatibility studies and various physical evaluations including analysis of Acyclovir content and its discharge kinetics.Results The study observed that the mucoadhesion strength of the microspheres increased as the levels of AIFM in the formulations increased. Additionally formulations with lower levels of AIFM exhibited greater drug discharge at the 10th h mark. Conversely higher AIFM concentrations in the formulations acted as retarding agents for drug discharge leading to a slight reduction in the discharged amount of drug.Conclusion This experiment highlights that the mucoadhesive drug delivery system incorporating Acyclovir using Carbopol 934P along with AIFM successfully fulfills the requirement for gastro retention. This approach proves to be an effective strategy for delivering drugs specifically to the stomach.