FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF TOPICAL GEL WITH ITRACONAZOLE

Pradeep Kumar Gangwar*

ABSTRACT

In the past few decades, there has been an exponential growth in the field of herbal medicine and excipients. The aim of the present research work was to investigate the potential of topical gel in enhancing the topical delivery of itraconazole using natural gelling agents. Emulgel formulations of itraconazole were formulated using two types of gelling agents, namely xanthan gum and guar gum. The influence of the type of the gelling agent and the concentration of both the oil phase and emulsifying agent on the drug release from the formulated topical gel was studied by preparing various batches. The prepared formulations were evaluated for their physical appearance, viscosity, drug release, globule size, skin irritation test, antifungal activity, and stability. Itraconazole cream available in market was used for comparison with prepared formulations. All the prepared topical gels showed acceptable physical properties concerning color, homogeneity, consistency, spreadability, and pH value. The result of studied revealed that the optimized batch shows 96.04% release in 5 h.

Keywords: Emulgel, guar gum, itraconazole, topical drug delivery, xanthan gum.