Filmes orodispersíveis para higienização bucal de cães: delineamento farmacotécnico e atividade antimicrobiana

Abstract

Personalized pharmacotherapy has been gaining more and more space with the development of alternative pharmaceutical forms that can be produced on a masterly scale, individually, according to the therapeutic needs of each animal species. The objective of the present work was to develop orodispersible films (ODFs) containing chlorhexidine gluconate (DC) for use as an adjunct in oral hygiene in dogs. In the first stage of the work, 22 base formulations free from the active ingredient were prepared, named ODF1 to ODF22, using different concentrations of natural, modified natural and synthetic polymers, in addition to plasticizers, extenders, surfactants and sweeteners. In the selection of the best bases, those with high viscosity or fluidity, from which it was not possible to form films, were eliminated, as well as those that originated non-continuous, rigid, fragile, brittle and sticky films, difficult to spread or remove. Of the 22 prepared bases, the following were selected for the preparation of ODFs and work continuity: ODF3, ODF4, ODF5, ODF9, ODF10, ODF17, ODF19, ODF21. Film quality was evaluated by determining appearance, average weight, thickness, pH, bending strength, residual moisture and disintegration time in water and in simulated saliva buffer. From the results, three base formulations were selected (ODF3, ODF5 and ODF21), in which 3 concentrations of DC (0.625, 1.25 and 2.5% w/w) were incorporated, which were submitted to the same tests for quality assessment. Additionally, the antimicrobial activity of ODFs containing DC against Escherichia coli (ATCC 25,922), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25,923), Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 12,228) and Candida albicans (ATCC 24,433) strains was investigated using a modified disk-diffusion method. In the ODFs containing DC, it was observed that only the formulations from the ODF21 formulation with 2.5% w/w of PVP (ODFC7 to ODFC9) meet the quality recommendations. All formulations containing DC were shown to be active against the strains of microorganisms studied, with the smallest statistical variations observed for the formulations ODFC7 to ODFC9. From the results, it can be concluded that orodispersible films based on a mixture of pullulan, xanthan gum, gelatin and PVP, with 1.25% w/w of DC is potentially useful for oral hygiene in dogs.