PREPARATION, IN-VITRO RELEASE AND ANTIINFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF MELOXICAM IN DIFFERENT GEL FORMULATIONS

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate different polymers to theirsuitability for formulation as vehicles for topical delivery system.Meloxicam (MX) was incorporated into the gel vehicles in aconcentration of 1.0% w/w. It is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatorydrug (NSAID) of the enolic acid class of compounds.Polymers used in this study are methylcellulose (MC), tylose(Ty), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), poloxamer 407 (polo), polyethylene glycol (PEG), carbopol 974P (Carb. and eudispert mv. (Eud). Theyare used in a suitable concentration for gel formation.In-vitro release characteristics of the drug from different gelswere carried out using dialysis membrane in phosphate buffer pH6.8. The release data were treated with various kinetic principles toassess the relevant parameters.The general rank order of MX release was MC > Ty > polo >PVA > other gel forms. The results also showed that, the release ofdrug from the prepared gels obeyed the diffusion model (Higuchi’sequation).The influence of some formulation and processing variables(initial drug concentration of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0% w/w, poloxamer407 concentration of 20, 25, 30% w/v in the aqueous gelformulation) on the release patterns have been studied. The resultsrevealed an inverse correlation between the drug release rate andthe poloxamer 407 concentration and direct correlation betweenthe drug release rate and the initial drug concentration.The anti-inflammatory activity of the drug in different gelformulations was studied using carrageenan induced rat pawedema method. The results obtained show an excellent antiinflammatoryactivity on rat paw edema.