FORMULATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF VITAMIN D3 EMULGEL: A COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF CARBOPOL 940 AND POLOXAMER 407

Chaithra N., Venkatesh*, Parthasarathi K. Kulkarni, Siddartha H. N. and Hanumanthachar Joshi K.

ABSTRACT

This research focused on developing and characterizing a vitamin D3 emulgel using Carbopol 940 and Poloxamer 407 as gelling agents to enhance stability, skin permeation, and patient compliance in topical delivery. Eight formulations (F1-F8) were created with varying concentrations of the gelling agents and evaluated for multiple physicochemical properties. Vitamin D3 was characterized as an odorless, white crystalline solid, freely soluble in various solvents, with UV spectrophotometry confirming λ max at 265 nm in methanol. FTIR analysis showed no drug-excipient interactions, and microscopic evaluation revealed uniform oil droplet dispersion in the gel matrix. Higher concentrations of gelling agents increased gel strength, with Carbopol 940 forming stronger gels than Poloxamer 407. All formulations showed uniform drug distribution (95-105% content) and skin-compatible pH values (5.72-7.01). Rheological studies demonstrated non-Newtonian behavior with thixotropic properties, and spreadability decreased as polymer concentration increased. Carbopol 940 formulations exhibited higher swelling indices compared to Poloxamer 407. In vitro drug release studies showed 92.21% and 79.42% release after 8 hours for optimized formulations F3 and F7, respectively, following the Korsmeyer-Peppas model. The study successfully developed stable vitamin D3 emulgel formulations with controlled release properties, with Carbopol 940-based formulations showing particularly promising results for efficient topical delivery.

Keywords: Vitamin D3, Topical delivery, Drug release, Emulgel, Optimization.