Enhancement of Skin Permeation and Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Indomethacin Using Nanoemulsuion

Abstract

The objective of the present study is to investigate the potential of nanoemulsion formulations for transdermal delivery of indomethacin (IND). Nanoemulsions formulations with different Surfactant: co surfactant ratios (S mix); F1 - F6 (1:1, 2;2, 3:1, 4;1, 1:2 and 3:2) were prepared by the spontaneous emulsification method, and characterized for morphology, droplet size, and rheological characteristics. The ex vivo skin permeation studies were performed using Franz diffusion cell with rabbit skin as permeation membrane. A significant increase in the steady-state flux (Jss), permeability coefficient (Kp), and enhancement ratio (Er) was observed in nanoemulsion formulations compared with the conventional IND gel. The anti-inflammatory effects of nanoemulsion formulations showed a significant increase in percent edema inhibition value after 4 hours. The optimized formulation showed significant increase in the steady-state flux (Jss) and permeability coefficient (Kp). Enhancement ratio (Er) was found to be 8.939 in optimized formulation F1 compared with IND gel. Keywords: Nanoemulsion, Indomethacin, Surfactant:co surfactant mixture, Permeability coefficient, Anti inflammatory effect