Design and Characterization of Calcipotriol Proniosomal Gel: In-vivo Exploration against Imiquimod-induced Psoriasis in Experimental Animals

Abstract

The present work focuses on the preparation and evaluation of calcipotriol proniosomal gel (CPG) and find out if the antipsoriatic formulation could prevent imiquimod (IMQ) induced psoriasis in experimental animals. CPG was designed and developed by the coacervation phase separation method. Cholesterol and soya lecithin was used as membrane modifiers and tween 80 and span 60 as non-ionic surfactants. The developed proniosomal gels were characterized which revealed that the optimized batch CPG3 presented excellent formulation characteristics like viscosity of 9690 ± 1.43 cps, rate of spontaneity as 14 ± 1.37, %entrapment efficiency of 82.71 ± 0.48, the average hydrodynamic diameter of niosomes as 739.1 nm, polydispersibility index as 0.360 and ZP of -2.8 mV. In-vivo animal study of the optimized batch CPG3 was performed along with biochemical estimations of oxidative parameters such as glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and catalase; also, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6) were estimated using enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) sandwiched. Histopathological estimation along with psoriasis area severity index (PASI) scores in the IMQ-induced psoriatic model revealed a significant decline in the scoring after treatment with CPG3 compared with a psoriatic group. Primary dermal irritation scoring was also evaluated on Sprague Dawley rats. The results revealed a considerable decrease in skin irritation score compared with a psoriatic group. Also, the levels of GSH, SOD and catalase were raised in CPG3 treated group as compared with a psoriatic group. While MDA level was declined after topical treatment with CPG3 compared with a psoriatic group. In conclusion, the optimized CPG3 showed promising pharmacological effects in the treatment of psoriasis