Groundnut oil based emulsion gels for passive and iontophoretic delivery of therapeutics

Abstract

There is a persistent demand for an efficient drug delivery system, suitable for the delivery of both hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs. This study explores groundnut oil-based emulsion gels for the above-mentioned application. On the basis of stability, two representative gels OG5-80 (low oil content) and OG7-45 (high oil content) were studied further. Analysis of microarchitecture by ESEM and confocal microscopy, in conjugation with fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, confirmed the conversion of the dispersion phase from oil-continuous (OG7-45) to bicontinuous (OG5-80) with increasing water proportion. The gels were viscoelastic with unique stress relaxation properties. Passive and active (iontophoretic) release kinetics of the drugs showed differential release patterns. Mathematical modeling elucidated composition-dependent temporal variation in the drug release and stress relaxation patterns. In vitro cell viability study, cell cycle analysis, and immunocytochemistry divulged compatibility of the gels to human skin cells (keratinocytes). Drugloaded gels were found active against B. subtilis and E. coli. Hence, groundnut oil-based emulsion gels can be an efficient and stable multimodal carrier system for the passive and the active delivery of both hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs.

A review on emerging applications of emulgel as topical drug delivery system

“…According to Table 1, the antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral activities of all emulgels which were studied were good, and few studies reported greater activity than the existing marketed products [25,33]. Emulgels formulated effectively delivered hydrophobic and less water soluble drugs like metronidazole, ciprofloxacin, terbinafine and ketoconazole to the targeted site [25,27,28,29,31]. Most of the formulations showed a good in vivo therapeutic response with reduced systemic toxicity [23][24][25][26].…”

“…The common problem encountered during the development of new formulations is the hydrophobic nature of the drugs, which leads to solubility and bioavailability problems [9] .Therefore, hydrophobic drugs, can be added into the oil phase of the emulsion and delivered to the skin as an emulgel formulation where gels are not suitable dosage forms in delivering hydrophobic drugs. These characteristics of emulgel make them a more effective dosage form [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36].…”

Pre-Formulation Studies: Physicochemical Characteristics and In Vitro Release Kinetics of Insulin from Selected Hydrogels

“…The percentage of relaxation is determined by the elasticity index. Hydrogels with a higher %R are characterized by lower stiffness [ 50 , 51 ]. The highest %R value was recorded for the H3-INS formulation (72.7%, T = 25 °C; 74.9%, T = 32 °C).…”

“…The percentage of relaxation is determined by the elasticity index. Hydrogels with a higher %R are characterized by lower stiffness [50,51]. The highest %R value was recorded The percentage of relaxation is determined by the elasticity index.…”

Internet-of-Things-Enabled Dual-Channel Iontophoretic Drug Delivery System for Elderly Patient Medication Management

“…The model hydrophilic drug (metronidazole, 0.2 g) was mixed to the homogeneous mixture. The hot emulsion was then cooled down to room temperature in order to induce gelation [13].…”