Doxycycline-gentamicin combination loaded microsphere preparation and characterization

Controlled drug delivery systems have received the attention they deserve in recent years. For this reason, studies are increasing day by day. Antibiotics are used in the treatment of foodborne infections. It has become increasingly common to encapsulate antibiotics to increase their effectiveness. For this purpose, poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) is preferred as a carrier due to its suitability for long-term release, high biocompatibility and not producing an acidic environment during degradation. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is used as surfactant in order to obtain small size particles. In the study, encapsulation is performed using a single emulsion-solvent evaporation technique by doxycycline alone and combining doxycycline and gentamicin together. As a result of the experiments, the PVA concentration is determined as 2 % and 4 %. The emulsion is prepared both with and without a homogenizer, so it is aimed to compare the size of particles. Stirring rate of 3400 and 7200 rpm are used in the homogenizer. Surface morphology and size properties of the particles loaded with doxycycline alone and doxycycline and gentamicin are investigated. Accordingly, in terms of surface, morphology and particle sizes, microspheres prepared with 4 % PVA without using a homogenizer, and microspheres prepared with 2 % PVA using a homogenizer, are suitable to be used in future studies. In addition, it is accepted that stirring rate of 3400 rpm is applicable for preparing microspheres by using the homogenizer.