Formulation and Evaluation of an Antifungal Emulgel Containing Carbopol 940 as Gelling Agent

Abstract

Emulgels have emerged as one of the most intriguing topical distribution systems as they have dual release control system, i.e., gel and emulsion. The main purport of the present study was to develop and evaluate topical emulgel system for Fluconazole, antifungal agent, utilizing different polymers namely carbopol 940. In addition, light liquid paraffin as oil, Tween-20 and Span-20 as emulsifiers and propylene glycol and methyl alcohol as co-surfactant were culled for preparation of emulgel. The influence of the concentration of the gelling agent and the concentration of both the oil phase and emulsifying agent on the drug release from the prepared emulgels was investigated. The prepared emulgels were also characterized physically in terms of color, phase separation, spreadability, pH, drug content, globule size and viscosity. As well, permeation study through cellulose membrane, using beaker method, was performed. Candida albicans was used as a model fungus to evaluate the antifungal activity of the prepared formulae. All prepared emulgel formulae showed acceptable physical properties, homogeneity, consistency, spreadability, viscosity and pH value. Stability studies showed that the physical appearance, spreadability, drug content and in vitro drug release in the selected emulgel formulae remained unchanged upon storage for three months. The Fluconazole release from all the emulgels was found to follow diffusion-controlled mechanism. It was found that the emulsifying agent concentration had the most obvious effect on the drug release from the emulgels followed by the oil phase concentration and finally the type of the gelling agent. As a general conclusion, it was suggested that the Fluconazole emulgel formulation F2 prepared with carbopol 940 as gelling agent, with the oil phase concentration in its low level (5%) and emulsifying agent concentration in its high level (2.5%) was the formula of choice since it showed the highest drug release, i.e., 73.30 ± 0.38% and maximum antifungal activity.

Keywords: Emulgel, Antifungal, Carbopol 940, in vitro Drug Release, Skin Irritation Study

Cite this Article

Patil Amit B, Mascarenhas Shanon Ben. Formulation and evaluation of an antifungal emulgel containing carbopol 940 as gelling agent. Trends in Drug Delivery. 2015. 2(1): 28–37p.