{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,6]],"date-time":"2026-06-06T03:05:26Z","timestamp":1780715126775,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,25]],"date-time":"2020-12-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1608854400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"This research work was funded by Institutional Fund Projects under grant no. (IFPHI-063-166-2020). Therefore, authors gratefully acknowledge technical and financial support from the Ministry of Education and King Abdulaziz University, DSR, Jeddah, Saudi A","award":["(IFPHI-063-166-2020)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["(IFPHI-063-166-2020)"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pharmaceutics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Candidiasis is one of the frequently encountered opportunistic infections in the oral cavity and can be found in acute and chronic presentations. The study aimed to develop fluconazole-loaded sesame oil containing nanotransfersomes (FS-NTF) by the thin-layer evaporation technique to improve the local treatment of oral candidiasis. Optimization of the formulation was performed using the Box\u2012Behnken statistical design to determine the variable parameters that influence the vesicle size, entrapment efficiency, zone of inhibition, and ulcer index. Finally, the formulated FS-NTF was embedded within the hyaluronic acid\u2012based hydrogel (HA-FS-NTF). The rheological behavior of the optimized HA-FS-NTF was assessed and the thixotropic behavior with the pseudoplastic flow was recorded; this is desirable for an oral application. An in vitro release study revealed the rapid release of fluconazole from the HA-FS-NTF. This was significantly higher when compared with the fluconazole suspension and hyaluronic acid hydrogel containing fluconazole. Correspondingly, the ex vivo permeation was also found to be higher in HA-FS-NTF in sheep buccal mucosa (400 \u03bcg\/cm2) when compared with the fluconazole suspension (122 \u03bcg\/cm2) and hyaluronic acid hydrogel (294 \u03bcg\/cm2). The optimized formulation had an inhibition zone of 14.33 \u00b1 0.76 mm and enhanced antifungal efficacy for the ulcer index (0.67 \u00b1 0.29) in immunocompromised animals with Candida infection; these findings were superior to those of other tested formulations. Hence, it can be summarized that fluconazole can effectively be delivered for the treatment of oral candidiasis when it is entrapped in a nanotransfersome carrier and embedded into cross-linked hyaluronic acid hydrogel.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pharmaceutics13010027","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,27]],"date-time":"2020-12-27T20:04:58Z","timestamp":1609099498000},"page":"27","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":31,"title":["Oral Gel Loaded by Fluconazole\u2012Sesame Oil Nanotransfersomes: Development, Optimization, and Assessment of Antifungal Activity"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Hala M.","family":"Alkhalidi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Khaled M.","family":"Hosny","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia"},{"name":"Center of Excellence for Drug Research and Pharmaceutical Industries, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3088-4084","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Waleed Y.","family":"Rizg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia"},{"name":"Center of Excellence for Drug Research and Pharmaceutical Industries, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"e172","article-title":"Management options for low-dose methotrexate-induced oral ulcers: A systematic review","volume":"24","year":"2019","journal-title":"Med. 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