Novel Facile Nanoformulation of levofloxacin quinolone antibiotic

In this study, new levofloxacin loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles were prepared by sol–gel technique using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as silica precursor and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as pore generating agent. The synthesis conditions were tailored by varying the molar ratio of water, NaOH and amount of CTAB used. The synthesized silica carriers were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) which showed that spherical particles with an average size between 80-87 nm were prepared. UV and Infra Red Spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the formation of levofloxacin-nano particulate system and showed the participation of carboxylic group in the synthetic process. It is envisaged that nano based drug delivery of levofloxacin would serve as a promising and innovative tool against resistant bacterial infection. Keywords: Levofloxacin, Nanoparticles, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, sol–gel