Optimization and Evaluation of Anti-Inflammatory Herbal Emulgel loaded with Vitex Negundo for Enhanced Permeation

Abstract

The use of conventional drugs for the treatment of pain and inflammation has largely resulted in various side effects. These challenges have triggered the search for alternative therapy such as herbal medication that may serve as a safe, effective, and alternate treatment approach to managing pain and inflammation. Vitex negundo, a potential lipophilic molecule, possesses limited solubility and permeability. Emulgels are either water-in-oil or oil-in-water type emulsions, mixed with a gelling agent to form a gel for the delivery of lipophilic active ingredients. Therefore the current study is undertaken for the effective delivery of vitex negundo locally in the form of oil-in-water emulgel for improving solubility and permeability. The emulgel was formulated from carbopol 934 with vitex negundo in mineral oil emulsion using tween 80 (surfactant), and triethanolamine (co-surfactant). The formulations were optimized using the design of experiment software. The optimized emulgel formulation containing Smix (tween 80 and triethanolamine) ratio of 61.90, mineral oil 50.58%, and carbopol 934 3% showed a pH of 6.5±0.3, a viscosity of 17793 – 939 cps, and spreadability of 7.07 g.cm/s. Data from in-vitro and ex-vivo diffusion studies demonstrated improved permeability properties. The stability of the optimized emulgel formulation was additionally examined at ambient temperature for 28 days. The emulgel remained stable for 28 days. Based on the overall results we can conclude that emulgel can be a promising and suitable formulation for the application of vitex negundo.