Ofloxacin/beta-cyclodextrin complexation

Ofloxacin (OFX) is a fluorquinolone characterized by photochemical instability. With the goal to improve its photostability in aqueous solutions, the complexation of ofloxacin with β-cyclodextrin was investigated. The complexes showed a water solubility enhancement of approximately 2.6 times; nevertheless, the photodegradation of ofloxacin was not reduced. The complexes obtained were characterized by thermal and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis, which revealed an interaction between ofloxacin and β-cyclodextrin. The last analysis indicated that only partial inclusion of the N-methylpiperazinyl moiety occurred, which can explain the fact that photostabilization was not improved. This partial inclusion phenomenon could be explained also by computer-aided molecular modeling.