A Novel Liquid Crystal Drug Delivery for Transdermal Application

Abstract

The present study was aimed at the formulation of liquid crystals of acyclovir that will be incorporated into a transdermal patch. Liquid crystals serve as drug carrier and have a good penetration-enhancer property, due to the extensive similarity of these colloidal systems with the intercellular lipids in the stratum corneum. The liquid crystals were prepared using tween 80 as emulsifier, cetosteryl alcohol as emulsion stabilizer and double-distilled water. Liquid crystals were evaluated for viscosity, entrapment efficiency, SEM and in vitro drug release studies. Formulation LC21 was found to be the best on the basis of the parameters evaluated and hence was selected for incorporation into the transdermal patches. Transdermal patches were prepared using Na CMC, HPMC 50 cps, HPMC E 15 LV and HPMC K4M and were evaluated for in vitro permeation, tensile strength, percent moisture absorption, in vivo studies in rat model for skin irritation. All the patches showed extended release properties. Formulation F6 was found to be the optimized formulation on the basis of evaluation parameters. In vitro permeation release was found to be 81.13% at the end of 24th hour. The release kinetics of the transdermal patches followed Korsmeyer-Peppas model. The patches were found to be stable. Skin irritation studies on rats showed that the prepared patches were compatible. Based on the encouraging results, the transdermal patches containing acyclovir loaded liquid crystals can be used as extended release system.

Keywords: Acyclovir, liquid crystals, transdermal patch

Cite this Article
Charyulu R Narayana, Deshprabhu Nirmal, Dixit Mudit. A novel liquid crystal drug delivery for transdermal application. Trends in Drug Delivery. 2015; 2(2): 28–37p.