Abstract

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF PRONIOSOMAL GEL OF AMPHOTERICIN B FOR ENHANCED TRANSDERMAL PERMEATION

Akash Jaiswal*, Satkar Prasad

RKDF School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Bhabha University, Bhopal (M.P.)

ABSTRACT

The present study aimed to develop, optimize, and evaluate a proniosomal gel formulation for sustained topical drug delivery. Proniosomes were prepared using soya phosphatidylcholine and Span 80, and optimization was carried out by varying the lipid-to-surfactant ratio, drug concentration, and sonication time. The optimized formulation (F9) consisted of a Soya PC:Span 80 ratio of 10:1, 1% w/v drug concentration, and 60 seconds of sonication. It exhibited an average vesicle size of 147.56 nm, entrapment efficiency of 75.45%, and zeta potential of −38.12 mV, indicating good colloidal stability. The optimized proniosomes were incorporated into a Carbopol gel base to obtain formulation FG-9. The gel showed desirable physicochemical properties, including viscosity of 3418 ± 12 cps, drug content of 99.34 ± 0.18%, spreadability of 11.48 ± 0.63 g·cm/s, extrudability of 162 ± 4 g, and pH of 6.82 ± 0.02. In vitro drug release studies demonstrated a sustained release pattern from the proniosomal gel, with 99.18% cumulative drug release over 12 hours, whereas the plain gel released nearly the entire drug within 4 hours. Stability studies confirmed that the optimized formulation remained physically and chemically stable under refrigerated and room-temperature conditions over three months. The developed proniosomal gel demonstrated excellent physicochemical characteristics, high drug entrapment, sustained drug release, and satisfactory stability, suggesting its potential as an effective topical drug delivery system.

Keywords: Proniosomes; Niosomal gel; Soya phosphatidylcholine; Span 80; Entrapment efficiency; Vesicle size; Sustained release; Topical drug delivery; Stability studies.