Development of the technology of “Fitoryn-plus” nasal gel for treating allergic rhinitis

Abstract

There are some available synthetic drugs of the foreign origin among symptomatic nasal medicines at the current pharmaceutical market. Most of them are produced in the form of drops or sprays, and it causes short duration of action of these drugs. Nowadays nasal gels attract great attention to the treatment of allergic rhinitis. The aim of the work is to develop a new nasal medicine based on biologically active plant substances in the gel form under the conditional name “Fitoryn-plus”. A dry extract of licorice root and essential oils of eucalyptus and Siberian pine were used as active ingredients of this nasal gel. In order to choose a structure-forming component of the gel base 9 model samples of gel systems were prepared, and the possibility of using carbomer (carbopol) 934, hydroxyethyl cellulose and sodium alginate was investigated. To neutralize aqueous dispersions of carbopol the ammonia solution, the solution of sodium hydroxide and triethanolamine were used. The gel was prepared at the room temperature using two variants of technology: by mixing the finished gel and solutions of active substances previously prepared (technology 1) and by introducing active substances into the dispersion medium before the gel thickening (technology 2). Based on the complex of organoleptic, physical and chemical, structural and mechanical studies conducted a gelling agent, a neutralizing agent, a hydrophilic nonaqueous solvent and their optimal concentrations in the drug composition have been chosen. It has been shown that thermal effects of the samples of the active substances, the gel base and “Fitoryn-plus” gel are similar in nature; it may be subjectively indicative of the absence of chemical interaction between the components of the drug and validate the technology developed.