The intravaginal route of administration can be exploited to treat local diseases and for systemic delivery. In this work, we developed an alginate/chitosan membrane sufficiently stable in a simulated vaginal fluid and able to dissolve over time at a very slow and linear rate. The membrane demonstrated good mechanical properties both in its swollen and dry form. As a study case, we evaluated the viability of this potential drug delivery system for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis, a common disease affecting women in their reproductive age. Metronidazole was effectively included in the alginate/chitosan membrane and its bactericide effect was demonstrated against Staphylococcus aureus and Gardnerella vaginalis, simultaneously showing good biocompatibility with a cervix epithelial cell line. Since this alginate/chitosan membrane is stable in a simulated vaginal environment, is easy to fabricate and can be used for the controlled release of a model drug, it represents a promising drug delivery system for local intravaginal applications.

中文翻译：

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基于藻酸盐和壳聚糖的持久粘膜粘附膜，用于阴道内药物递送。

阴道内给药途径可用于治疗局部疾病和全身递送。在这项工作中，我们开发了一种藻酸盐/壳聚糖膜，该膜在模拟的阴道液中足够稳定，并且能够以非常缓慢和线性的速度随时间溶解。该膜在其膨​​胀和干燥形式下均表现出良好的机械性能。作为研究案例，我们评估了该潜在药物递送系统治疗细菌性阴道病的可行性，细菌性阴道病是一种影响女性生育年龄的常见疾病。甲硝唑被有效地包括在藻酸盐/壳聚糖膜中，并证明其对金黄色葡萄球菌和阴道加德纳菌具有杀菌作用，同时与子宫颈上皮细胞系表现出良好的生物相容性。