Formulation and Evaluation of Microemulsion Based Luliconazole Gel for Topical Delivery

Introduction: Drug delivery through topical route is mostly preferred for local dermatological action. Topical action of preparations has certain limitations in terms of drug solubility, residence time, lipophilicity and permeability. Conventional dosage forms such as creams, ointments etc exhibit drawbacks like problem in stability, stickiness, poor absorption as well as permeation mainly in case of large molecule. To overcome this, the origination of emulgel came into existence which basically focus on the delivery of hydrophobic drugs.1 The present research is proposed to prepare and evaluate microemulsion based luliconazole gel for its enhanced solubility and permeability for better antifungal activity. Materials and Methods: The present study was aimed to prepare and evaluate microemulgel of luliconazole for topical application by using poly unsaturated fatty acids such as linseed oil. Sodium alginate was used as a gelling agent. Luliconazole microemulsion was prepared by varying the concentration of surfactants while the oil concentration was kept fixed. It was characterized for globule size and physical stability. Microemulgel was prepared and characterized for drug content, viscosity, spreadability, in vitro permeation study, skin irritation test, in vitro antifungal study and stability study. Skin irritation test was carried out after taking approval of Institutional Animal Ethics Committee. Results and Discussion: Two microemulsion were selected based on the globule area, PDI and physical stability and incorporated into the gel base of sodium alginate. The optimized microemulgel (F1) showed acceptable physical properties with lowest viscosity value (2325 cps) and showed pseudoplastic behaviour, highest spreadability value (3.7 gm.cm/sec), Highest drug permeation (63.50%) after 5 hr. Skin irritation test showed no signs of irritation in any rats. Optimized formulation F1 represents greater zone of inhibition (38 mm) as compared to pure gel (34 mm) and showed acceptable stability profile. Conclusion: It can be concluded that luliconazole microemulgel prepared with linseed oil and sodium alginate can be a choice for topical antifungal treatment.