Abstract

IN-SITU GEL – AN OVERVIEW

Rashmi B.*, Somashekhar C. N. And Senthil Kumar G. P.

ABSTRACT

Ophthalmic drug delivery system is one of the most challenging and interesting endeavor facing the pharmaceutical scientist. The conventional ophthalmic drug delivery system like solutions, suspension, and ointments shows drawback such as increased precorneal elimination, high variability in efficiency and blurred vision. To overcome the problem associated with conventional drug delivery system, there was need for developing advanced drug delivery system known as in-situ gelling system. This system has emerged as one of the best novel drug delivery system, it helps for the sustained and controlled release of the drugs by special characteristic feature of „Sol to Gel‟ transition. The in-situ gels are liquid preparations which upon instillation undergo phase transition in cul-de-sac of the eye to form a viscous gel and this occurs due to environmental changes in eye (i.e. due to change in temperature, change in pH and ion induced change). These systems were evaluated for drug content, clarity, pH, gelling capacity, viscosity, in vitro drug release studies, texture analysis, sterility testing, Isotonicity evaluation, accelerated studies and irritancy test. FT-IR spectroscopy was used to know drug and polymer incompatibilities.

Keywords: In-situ gel, In-situ gelling polymer, pH triggered in-situ gelation, Temperature dependent in-situ gelation, Ion activation in-situ gelation.