Abstract

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF POLYHERBAL EMULGEL ON WOUND HEALING ACTIVITY

Komal Rahevar*, Dhara Patel, Runika Utekar, Vaishali Shrivastav, Sohan Patel, Mukesh Patel, Satyajit Sahoo

ABSTRACT

Emulgel is a topical preparation. Prepared by the combination of emulsion and gel. Emulgels consist of curcumin, ascorbic acid, and salicylic acid. Emulgel is considered one of the most important topical delivery systems because it consists of two release control systems, i.e., gel and emulsion. The primary intention of this new topical delivery system is to deliver hydrophobic drugs into systemic circulation through the skin. Emulgel formulations were prepared using Carbopol 934 as a gelling agent. The main purpose of this research was to design, formulate, and evaluate a topical emulgel by using the high molecular weight water-soluble polymer Carbopol 934. This carbopol possesses very high viscosity, transparency, and film-forming properties at low concentrations and is reported to be useful in the formation of gel with an objective to increase transparency and Spreadability. All the prepared emulgel showed acceptable physical properties concerning colour, consistency, spreadability, and pH value. The influence of the type of gelling agent on the drug release from the prepared emulgel was investigated, and Carbopol 934 showed good results in physical evaluation parameters. From the drug evaluation studies, the F5 formulation showed good clarity, physical appearance, and viscosity of 2250 cps. Stability studies showed that the physical appearance and anti-inflammatory activity of all the prepared emulgels remained unchanged upon storage for 1 month. It was finally concluded that the formulation F5 with 1% w/w Carbopol 934 was found to be a more promising formulation as it shows better physicochemical characteristics and anti-inflammatory activity compared to other formulations. 

Keywords: Emulgel, Ascorbic acid, Salicylic acid, Curcumin, Wound healing, Topical drug delivery.