Abstract
The present research work was aimed to design the transdermal delivery system of naproxen using Aloe vera as aqueous gel base. Aloe vera would able to potentiate the anti-inflammatory effect and also act as penetration enhancer. Carbopol 934 was used as a gelling agent. The prepared gel was assessed for pH, permeation parameters, drug content, skin irritation and in-vitro diffusion. Accelerated stability study was also carried out. In-vivo studies were performed to characterize the efficacy of the prepared naproxen-Aloe vera transgel (NAG). The pH of formulation was found to be 6.98. The values of permeation data for flux, permeability coefficient and enhancement ratio were obtained as 0.00907 µg cm-2 h-1, 0.00453 cm h-1 and 5.96 respectively. The viscosity was found as 610 cps for NAG. The drug release kinetics followed Higuchi model. Stability study has proved the integrity of the formulation. No skin irritation was observed in Wistar albino rats. Anti-inflammatory assessment in Wistar rats showed significant effect in paw-volume reduction at p<0.05 in less than one hour for NAG compared to that of plain Aloe gel and commercial naproxen gel (CNG). The prepared naproxen-Aloe gel (NAG) could able to show better anti-inflammatory activity compared to the CNG. This could be attributed by synergistic effect of Aloe.
Keywords: Diffusion, flux, paw edema, percent inhibition, permeability enhancement.