Development and Evaluation of Ciclopirox Olamine-Loaded Microsphere Hydrogel for Topical Antifungal Delivery

The present study aimed to develop a topical antifungal delivery system comprising ciclopirox olamine-loaded sodium alginate microspheres incorporated into a Carbopol 934 hydrogel. Microspheres were prepared by ionotropic gelation using calcium chloride as the cross-linking agent. Five batches (F1–F5) were assessed for particle size, entrapment efficiency, production yield, in-vitro drug release and morphology. The selected batch was incorporated into four hydrogel formulations (G1–G4), which were evaluated for appearance, pH, viscosity, spreadability, drug content, drug diffusion, antifungal activity and short-term stability. Batch F3 showed a particle size of 128 µm, entrapment efficiency of 94%, yield of 88.6% and reported cumulative release of 91.2% at the final reported time point. The gels were whitish, smooth and free from perceptible grittiness, with pH values between 5.2 and 6.3. G2 had the highest reported drug content (95.43%) and showed a 17-mm inhibition zone against Candida albicans ATCC 10231, compared with 25 mm for miconazole and 0 mm for the control. Release-kinetic analysis reported the best fit to the Higuchi model (R² = 0.993). The results suggest that the microsphere-hydrogel platform merits further investigation as a topical antifungal formulation. Conflicting release values in the source data should be reconciled before publication.