Formulation and evaluation of nano structured lipid carrier (nlc) of ibuprofen for the treatment of inflammation

Abstract

Ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). It works by reducing hormones that cause inflammation and pain in the body.  This drug was selected for the study because it has good percutaneous absorption and appears to be more active as anti inflammatory  activity and is well tolerated. Nano structured lipid carrier was formulated by high speed homogenization  method which was found to be simple and economic. Excipients (lipids) used in the study was economic and safe. In vitro release studies of the formulations were carried out across the dialysis membrane using a diffusion cell. Among all the formulations, the release was  highest  for  the  formulation  NLC  F1  as  98.63%  in  12  hours  diffusion  study.  It also  shows  lowest  particle  size,  better entrapment efficiency and high zeta potential value, hence NLC-IBU F1 was concluded as optimized formulation. The optimized nano structured  lipid carrier IBU-NLC  formulation  was dispersed  into gel.   The polymers  namely  Carbopol-940  was used as gelling agent for formulation of gels and studied for their drug permeation from the NLC- gel formulations.  Carbopol gels were transparent,  non-greasy  and smooth  on application.  The pH of the formulations  ranged from 6.5 to 7.1.The spreadability  data ranges from 4.3-5.5 gm-cm/sec. The drug content was found to be 90-94%. The pH, spreadability and drug content were good and up to the acceptable range.  The in vitro diffusion study of NLC gel formulations were carried out across the skin membrane using Franz diffusion cell. It shows good permeation into skin for prolonged release of 12 hours than the marketed gel formulation.