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Author
Pérez Biel, Ana
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Abstract
In recent years, there has been an increase in the incidence of fungal infections, a fact that has been associated with increased resistance to antifungal drugs. As a consequence, first-line treatments decrease their effectiveness, complicating infections and can be fatal. For this reason, nanotechnology opens the way to new alternatives to the conventional administration of antifungals, being nanoparticles a drug carrier with a wide potential of development.
The present Final Degree Project has the objective of preparing chitosan nanoparticles for the encapsulation of voriconazole. The experimental part consisted in the formation of the nanoparticles by means of the ionic gelation technique, which is based on the electrostatic interactions that occur between chitosan and sodium tripolyphosphate. Different key parameters have been studied to optimize the size of the nanoparticles, among them: the type of chitosan, the optimal amount of the components, the relationship between chitosan/sodium tripolyphosphate, the order of addition and the stirring time. The size of the nanoparticles and the polydispersity index have been studied using the Dynamic Light Scattering technique and the possible degradation of the nanoparticles using the thermogravimetry technique. As a result of the experimentation, the chitosan nanoparticles have an average size of around 100nm. The optimal average size of the nanoparticles with a drug encapsulated has been between 87-144nm.
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