Development and in vitro assessment of Analgesic and Anti-inflammatory Mefenamic acid Nanosponge Loaded Topical Formulation

Abstract

The present research work was done with the objective of topical formulation development of poorly water-soluble drug Mefenamic acid. The drug was firstly incorporated in nanosponge of ethyl cellulose. Then Mefenamic acid nanosponge-loaded topical gel formulations were developed by using Carbopol 934 as a gel-forming polymer. The Mefenamic acid-loaded nanosponges were tested for various quality parameters such as particle size distribution, polydispersity.index(PI),. Surface morphology and drug entrapment efficiency etc. Gel formulations were tested for viscosity, pH, in vitro diffusion and other parameters. The average size of developed nanosponge preparations was found between 250nm to 894nm. Scanning electron microscopy photographs of developed formulations clearly reveal the spongy and porous nature of particles along with spherical shape. The PI was. found in. the range. of 0.206 to 0.934. It was found that formulation N3 with a drug-to-polymer ratio of 1:4 has the highest drug loading. Further nanosponge were characterized for different parameters and results revealed acceptable characteristics of N3 formulation. These prepared nanosponges were loaded in topical Carbopol gel (Formulation G3) and evaluated for in vitro diffusion release. Obtained in vitro data was applied to numerous kinetic models which reveal typical zero order in vitro drug diffusion with prolonged release of Mefenamic acid and therefore it can be effectively used as analgesic and anti-inflammatory formulation.