Enhancement of Transdermal Permeability of drug by Formulation of Novel Dosage Form

Topical drug delivery systems significantly improve the therapeutic efficacy of drugs. Drug-release-retarding polymers are the key performers in such systems. The topical route of drug delivery is the most preferred route for administration of drugs. The rationale for the development of an emulgel formulation of a drug is to enhance its therapeutic benefits, minimizing its side effect while improving the management of the diseased condition. Psoriasis is an immune disease caused by rapid and incomplete differentiation of skin basal cells. Natural products such as Indirubin have historically served as excellent sources for the treatments of psoriasis. Indirubin, isolated from indigo naturalis, has been shown to improve psorias is without causing any serious adverse events. The aim of the research was to develop and characterize emulgel formulations for Indirubin using different penetration enhancers identified and enhanced transdermal permeability. The drug content was found to be in the range of 81.13 – 98.25 %.From the in-vitro drug release data; it was observed that the percentage cumulative drug release of Indirubin was shown by formulation F3. F3 released 99.37 % of the drug in 60 min. The ‘n’ value of optimized formulation F3 was found to be 0.717 which indicated that the drug was released by first order kinetics with anomalous (Non-Fickian) release. From the stability studies, formulation F3 doesn’t show significant difference for physical properties, homogeneity, consistency, drug content and viscosity. Based on the above evaluation studies, it could be concluded that Indirubin can be used as an emulgel by mixing equal quantities of a gel and emulsion portions for acute bacterial skin infection.