DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION OF EMULGEL FOR EFFICIENT DRUG DELIVERY THROUGH THE SKIN

Abstract

The study aimed to enhance the topical delivery of Itraconazole through emulgel formulations using Carbopol 934 and Carbopol 940 as gelling agents. A 2³ factorial design was employed to study the effects of gelling agent type, oil phase concentration, and emulsifying agent concentrationondrugrelease.The formulationswereevaluatedforphysicalproperties,viscosity, drug release, globule size, skin irritation, antifungal activity, transmission electron microscopy, and stability. Results showed all formulations exhibited acceptable physical characteristics, including color, homogeneity, spreadability, and pH. The optimized formulation demonstrated 95.08% drug release over 48 hours, with enhanced antifungal activity compared to commercial Itraconazole cream. Skin irritation tests showed no signs of edema or erythema on rat skin. Stabilitystudiesconfirmedtheformulationsretainedtheirpropertiesafterthreemonthsofstorage. Overall, the study concluded that the optimized emulgel ensures sustained drug delivery in a controlled manner.