Abstract

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF NANO EMULSION BASED SYSTEM FOR TRANSDERMAL DELIVERY OF ANTIPSORIATIC DRUG

Umesh Acharya*, S. Rajarajan, Rukmagat Acharya, Ravindra Acharya, Gajendra Chaudhary and Saroj Ghimire

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to develop a stable methotrexate (MTX) loaded nanoemulsion gel (MNG) for topical use in Psoriasis to improve cutaneous deposition and local effect. The pseudo-ternary phase diagrams were developed for various nano-emulsion formulations composed of Isopropyl myristate as oil phase, Tween 20 as surfactant, PEG-400 as co surfactant and carbopol as gelling agent. Concentration of nano emulsion system was optimized using concentration of oil, surfactant/co-surfactant (1:3) and water as independent variables. The MTX-loaded nano-emulsion was characterized by droplet size and zeta potential. Nano-emulsion gel was prepared by adding 1% carbopol 934 as a gelling agent. The transdermal ability of MTX from nano-emulsion gel was evaluated by in vitro permeation study. The result shows that optimized nanoemulsion formulation was composed Isopropyl Myristate (8.5%w/w), Tween 20(37.5%w/w), PEG-400(10.5%w/w) and water (42.5%w/w). The optimized Nanoemulsion was found to be relatively uniform in size of (80±0.8 nm). The MNG showed improved in vitro permeation ability with better drug disposition capacity compared to MTX solution and gel. The result suggests that MNG is promising formulation for transdermal delivery of methotrexate for Psoriasis treatment.

Keywords: Methotrexate; Nano-emulsion gel; Transdermal delivery, Anti-psoriatic.