Anel vaginal micelar híbrido de curcumina associado a terapia fotodinâmica no tratamento da candidíase vulvovaginal

Abstract

Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a vulvar/vaginal infection that affects approximately 75% of women worldwide. Current treatment consists of antimicrobials with hepatotoxic properties and high chances of drug interaction. Therefore, this study aims to develop a novel treatment for VVC based on micelles containing curcumin (CUR) dispersed in a ureasyl-polyether hybrid (U-PEO) presenting a vaginal ring pharmaceutical form. Physicochemical characterization was performed in order to observe the size, shape, degree crystallinity and dispersion of particles in the formulation and was obtained by dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), in vitro release study, in addition to microbiological tests on planktonic cells. The DLS results for micelles containing CUR 0.5% exhibited micelles with an average value of 35 ± 3.50 nm, whereas for the 1 and 3% concentrations the graph went from modomodal to bimodal and trimodal, respectively, probably due to the presence of precipitates and agglomerates. The SEM performed on the white micelles determined nanometer sizes between 20 and 34 nm and a range of 22 to 51 nm for micelles containing CUR at 1 and 3%. For encapsulation efficiency (EE) results showed that for micelles containing 0.1, 0.5, 1 and 3% CUR, 96.2 ± 3.5, 86.4 ± 5.7, 62.9 ± 2.2 and 20.2 ± 0.7%, respectively of the CUR was dispersed in the micelles. The visual appearance of UPEO showed no agglomerate or precipitate in both the white matrices and those containing 3% CUR, which was confirmed by XRD. Release results showed that CUR loaded on U-PEO was 70 ± 0.43% released after 10 days, which demonstrates the potential application of this material, besides presenting itself as a possibility of multidose treatment based on a single application, suggesting a higher rate of patient adherence. In addition, microbiological testing of the micelle containing CUR with and without added light revealed a reduction rate of 3 to 5 logs, representing, according to the FDA, 99.9% and 99.999% reduction in the growth of microorganisms, respectively, leading to the belief that this may present itself as a possible alternative for the treatment of CVV.