Research Article Significance of Algal Polymer in Designing Amphotericin B Nanoparticles Saurabh Bhatia, 1 Vikash Kumar, 1 Kiran Sharma, 2 Kalpana Nagpal, 3 and Tanmoy Bera 4 1 PDMCOP, Bahadurgarh, Haryana 124507, India 2 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi 110062, India 3 School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab 144411, India 4 Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India Correspondence should be addressed to Saurabh Bhatia; sbsaurabhbhatia@gmail.com Received 7 July 2014; Revised 1 September 2014; Accepted 15 September 2014; Published 12 November 2014 Academic Editor: Rizwan Hasan Khan Copyright © 2014 Saurabh Bhatia et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Development of oral amphotericin B (AmB) loaded nanoparticles (NPs) demands a novel technique which reduces its toxicity and other associated problems. Packing of AmB in between two oppositely charged ions by polyelectrolyte complexation technique proved to be a successful strategy. We have developed a novel carrier system in form of polyelectrolyte complex of AmB by using chitosan (CS) and porphyran (POR) as two oppositely charged polymers with TPP as a crosslinking agent. Initially POR was isolated from Porphyra vietnamensis followed by the fact that its alkali induced safe reduction in molecular weight was achieved. Formulation was optimized using three-factor three-level (3 3 ) central composite design. High concentration of POR in NPs was conirmed by sulfated polysaccharide (SP) assay. Degradation and dissolution studies suggested the stability of NPs over wide pH range. Hemolytic toxicity data suggested the safety of prepared formulation. In vivo and in vitro antifungal activity demonstrated the high antifungal potential of optimized formulation when compared with standard drug and marketed formulations. hroughout the study TPP addition did not cause any signiicant changes. herefore, these experimental oral NPs may represent an interesting carrier system for the delivery of AmB. 1. Introduction Increasing prevalence of serious systemic infections such as aspergillosis, candidiasis, and cryptococcosis demands a potent fungicidal agent that efectively destroys the fungal growth without the development of any resistance and tox- icity. Amphotericin B (AmB) is a broad-spectrum polyene macrolide antifungal agent that does not induce resistance, is widely known for the treatment of life-threatening systemic fungal infections, and acts as second line drug of choice for visceral leishmaniasis [1–4]. However its poor water solubil- ity, poor stability (in acidic pH), low intestinal permeability, and various dose related serious side efects, for example, nephro and hemolytic toxicity, limit its therapeutic eicacy in oral drug delivery system [5]. All these problems are associated with diferent states of AmB in aqueous media which determines the overall activity of drug [5]. hat is why it is conventionally administrated parenterally. We have efort fully established a clear relationship between the solubility, antifungal activity, and its related toxicities (Figure 1). Nanoparticulate delivery system is the most suitable mode for delivering AmB. Most of the currently available AmB nanoformulations are lipid based (Ambisome, Amphocil, and Abelcet) though some are also available in micellar (Fungi- zone) and nanosuspension form [2]. hese all formulations have their serious concerns such as rapid release, surfactant related toxicities, low drug loading capacity, diicult route of administration, limited in vivo eicacy, and high price [2]. hus there is an urgent need for efective oral antifungal drug delivery system that not only reduces the side efects but also increases the absorption of AmB in a controlled manner. PEC technique for nanoparticles involves the controlled mixing of diluted polycation and polyanion solutions that gives the size range of 20 to 500 nm with various shapes such as spherical, toroid, and rod-like shapes or have a loose gel-like shape up to compact internal structure. hey are Hindawi Publishing Corporation e Scientific World Journal Volume 2014, Article ID 564573, 21 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/564573