Keywords: Functionalization; antibiotic; bioavailability; nanomedicine; drug delivery system

Abstract

The conventional oral formulation of the antibacterial drug clarithromycin has always been a major challenging task to overcome due to its low bioavailability, short circulation half-life, poor aqueous solubility, and acidic instability inside the stomach. Therefore, targeted drug delivery system is one of the key solutions to overcome these pharmaceutical limitations. A study was conducted to formulate and optimize the clarithromycin loading efficiency of a novel nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery system based on graphene oxide as the carrier. The clarithromycin-graphene oxide nanohybrid was synthesized using a simple, non-covalent functionalization method and characterized by ultraviolet-visible and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies. The drug loading efficiency of graphene oxide was estimated to be around 56.0 wt% and the Fourier transform infrared spectra suggested that clarithromycin was successfully conjugated onto graphene oxide as evidenced by the characteristic absorption peaks of both graphene oxide and clarithromycin. The findings herein strongly indicate that graphene oxide, as a multifunctional and versatile nanomaterial, can be a potential drug carrier for enhancing the pharmacokinetic profiles of poorly water-insoluble drugs like clarithromycin.