Preparation and characterization of azithromycin nanodrug using solvent/antisolvent method

Nanoparticles of azithromycin are prepared using solvent/antisolvent precipitation method. The solubility of drug in water and the oral bioavailability are increased with decreasing particle size. The effect of type and concentration of surfactant and feed drug concentration are evaluated on the precipitated particle size. The nanoazithromycin in range 200-400 nm is obtained by the addition of absolute ethanol as solvent, water as antisolvent in presence of Tween (R) 80 as surfactant. The prepared nanoparticles are characterized by infra-red spectra, particle size distribution, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. The chemical structure of nanosized azithromycin does not show any change but the crystallinity reduces in comparison with raw drug. Dissolution of azithromycin nanoparticles in purified water and buffer phosphate (pH of 6.0) is 2.93 and 3.36, respectively, times of raw drug in 30 min.