Satyabrata Bhanja, P.Kishore Kumar 1, Muvvala Sudhakar, Arun kumar Das

Abstract

The present investigation is concerned with formulation and evaluation of Transdermal gels of Diclofenac sodium, anti-inflammatory drug, to circumvent the first pass effect and to improve its bioavailability with reduction in dosing frequency and dose related side effects. Twelve formulations were developed with varying concentrations of polymers like Carbopol 934P, HPMCK4M and Sodium CMC. The gels were tested for clarity, Homogeneity, Spreadability, Extrudability, Viscosity, surface pH, drug Content uniformity, in-vitro drug diffusion study and ex-vivo permeation study using rat abdominal skin. FTIR studies showed no evidence on interactions between drug, polymers and excipients. The best in-vitro drug release profile was achieved with the formulation F4 containing 1 gm of Diclofenac sodium exhibited 6 h sustained drug release i.e. 98.68 % with desired therapeutic concentration which contains the drug and Carbopol 934p in the ratio of 1:2. The surface pH, drug content and viscosity of the formulation F4 was found to be 6.27, 101.3% and 3,10,000cps respectively. The drug permeation from formulation F4 was slow and steady and 0.89gm of Diclofenac sodium could permeated through the rat abdominal skin membrane with a flux of 0.071 gm hr-1 cm-2. The in-vitro release kinetics studies reveal that all formulations fits well with zero order kinetics followed by non-Fickian diffusion mechanism.