Formulation and In-Vitro Evaluation of Ciprofloxacin Loaded Topical Emulgel

Topical drug delivery systems have been used for centuries for the treatment of local skin disorders. One side the topical applications of the drug offer the potential advantages of delivering the drug directly to the site of action and delivering the drug for extended period of time at the effected site that mainly acts at the related regions. On the other hand, topical delivery system increases the contact time and mean resident time of drug. The aim of the work is to develop & characterize an emulgel formulation of ciprofloxacin. Ciprofloxacin gellified emulsion formulations were prepared by dispersing Carbopol 934 in purified water with constant stirring at a moderate speed,then the pH was adjusted to 6 6.5 using Tri Ethanol Amine (TEA). Evaluation of the ciprofloxacin emulgel was carried out for Physical appearance, pH values , Spreadability, Rheological study, Drug content determination, In vitro release study, Skin irritation test, Accelerated stability studies and fitting of results into different kinetic equations was also carried out. It was observed that all the formulations were liquefied and diluted at the end of the experiments, indicating water diffusion through the membrane. In general, it was observed that the better release of the drug was seen from all formulations. The formulations showed higher R2 values for zero order plots indicating that drug release followed zero order kinetics and drug release was by both diffusion and erosion. The accelerated stability studies were performed according to ICH guidelines for 3 months and the results were found to be stable in varying temperature. The results demonstrate that the release of the drug is dependent on viscosity of the polymer used.