Abstract

A NOVEL IN SITU GEL FOR SUSTAINED OPHTHALMIC DELIVERY OF CIPROFLOXACIN HYDROCHLORIDE AND DICLOFENAC SODIUM: DESIGN AND CHARACTERIZATION

Harpinder Kaur Gill* and Shweta Bhagat

ABSTRACT

Ophthalmic drug delivery is one of the most challenging tasks for the pharmaceutical scientist. The anatomy and physiology of the eye and its unparalleled structure makes it a complex organ and it render this organ exquisitely impervious to foreign substances. The ocular efficiency of ocular drugs is highly affected by the corneal contact time. Ocular availability of drugs can be improved by increasing pre-corneal residence time by using vesicular system and hydrogel. The present work is one of the latest approaches to improve the precorneal resident time and bioavailability by using in situ gelling system. By using Gellan Gum-an ion sensitive gelling agent, an attempt was made to develop an in situ gelling system of Ciprofloxacin HCl and Diclofenac Sodium. The developed formulations were evaluated for pH, drug content, in vitro gelation, in vitro drug release, viscosity and stability. The developed formulations were therapeutically efficacious and provided sustained release of the drug for 8 hour.

Keywords: Ophthalmic in situ gel, Ciprofloxacin HCl, Diclofenac Sodium, Gellan Gum.