Co-delivery of norfloxacin and tenoxicam in Ag-TiO/poly(lactic acid) nanohybrid.

A nanohybrid formulation of silver‑titanium dioxide nanoparticles/poly(lactic acid) (Ag-TiO/PLA) was designed for Norfloxacin/Tenoxicam (NOR/TENO) targeted delivery to maximize the bioavailability and minimize the side effects of the drugs. Ag-TiO nanoparticles were prepared via Stober method. NOR, TENO and a mixture of NOR/TENO (NT) were loaded onto Ag-TiO nanoparticles and coated by PLA via solution casting. The physical interaction between the drugs and carrier was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. X-ray diffraction (XRD) demonstrated that Ag-TiO consists of a cubic phase of Ag with two phases of TiO (anatase and brookite). Ag nanoparticle fine spots coated with TiO were collected to form spheres averaging at 100 nm in size. In-vitro release behavior of drugs was studied at different pH (5.4, 7.4) and the release of drug from NT/Ag-TiO/PLA was faster at pH 7.4. Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria were used to investigate antibacterial properties of the nanohybrid. Cytotoxicity of the nanohybrid using an MTT assay was studied against different tumor and normal cell lines. It was found that NT/Ag-TiO/PLA has an excellent cytotoxic effect against various bacterial cells and tumor cell lines. In addition, antioxidant properties of the nanohybrids were tested using ABTS method and the nanohybrid showed moderate antioxidant activity.