Fabrication of Non-Ionic Surfactant Vesicular Gel for Effective Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

ABSTRACT

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic, inflammatory auto immune disorder with unknown aetiology. Though various efficacious treatment options are currently available to treat RA, failure to cure is unpredictable. Hence the present study aimed to evaluate Piroxicam (PC) loaded non-ionic surfactant vesicular carrier as transdermal patches. MethodsTransdermal patches of PC- niosomes were formulated by solvent casting method using different polymers. The prepared formulation was examined for physico - chemical and morphological characteristics and drug release studies were performed by Franz diffusion cell method. ResultsThe results of physico-chemical characterizations show that all formulations were with optimum range and morphological characterization shows that the prepared niosomes are spherical in shape. Drug release characteristic of all formulations was performed and the result exhibits that formulation TN4 (PC encapsulated niosomal gel transdermal patch) shows highest % drug release (95.13%) when compared to other formulation. The release data was fitted with release kinetics and results shows zero order with non Fickian diffusion mechanism. ConclusionsPC encapsulated vesicular carrier as transdermal patches is a promising drug delivery system to enhance the solubility of poorly soluble drugs. It also enhances the residence time of drug at absorption site. Hence this approach could be beneficial for the effective management of RA.