Abstract

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF TOPICAL FLURBIPROFEN GEL USING DIFFERENT GELLING AGENTS

Kokane Vikrant *, Naik Sonali 

ABSTRACT

Flurbiprofen is chemically 2-(3- fluoro-4-phenylphenyl) propanoic acid. It is non steroidal anti inflammatory agent used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis .Oral administration of this drug is associated with severe gastrointestinal side effects like ulceration and gastro intestinal bleeding. The solution of this problem lies in the fact that, topically applied NSAIDs are safer than oral NSAIDs. The objective of the study was to prepare gel of flurbiprofen using different gelling agents : carbopol 940, carbopol 934, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose and lutrol F-127.These preparations were further compared with marketed flurbiprofen gel.The gels were evaluated for physical appearance, pH, spreadability, extrudability,rheological studies , drug content and in vitro release. All gel formulations developed contain ethanol & propylene glycol which in combination enhances permeability of gel. The gel containing lutrol F-127 as gelling agent is translucent and permeation studies of it were comparable with marketed gel.Drug content was found to be uniform in all the formulations. The pH ranges of formulated gels were found to be suitable for topical application. The accelerated stability studies were performed according to ICH guidelines for 3 months and the results were found to be stable in varying temperature.

Keywords: Flurbiprofen, lutrol F-127, carbopol, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, topical gel.