The objective of this research is to outline the liberation of indomethacin from different chitosan gels containing O/W microemulsion. The influence of surfactant, sodium lauryl sulfate, in two concentrations (0.5% and 0.75%, w/w) was determined in dissolution medium on the release of indomethacin, which was used as poor water-soluble model drug. Chitosan gels were prepared in four different concentrations of chitosan-1%, 1.5%, 2%, and 3% (w/w). Microemulsion enhanced the liberation of the indomethacin from chitosan gels into all dissolution mediums. Adding the surfactant into phosphate-buffered saline decreased the amount of liberated indomethacin from microemulsion, gel mixture, but increased the drug liberation from pure chitosan gels. It was detected that with the increased concentration of chitosan in the samples, the amount of indomethacin liberated (p < 0.05) also increased. A conclusion was drawn that the liberation of indomethacin from chitosan gels was influenced by increased pH of the samples. The high viscosity induced a higher release of indomethacin from 3% (w/w) chitosan hydrogel at pH 5.8 as compared with 3% (w/w) chitosan hydrogel at pH 3.8. The highest percentage of released indomethacin was determined when a mixture of microemulsion gel with higher chitosan content was used.

Terbinafine hydrochloride (TBH) (E)-N-(6,6-dimethyl-2-hepten-4-inyl)-N-methyl-1-naphthaline-methanamine(-hydrochloride) is an effective antifungal agent already existing on the market in the form of topical formulations. The present study deals with the preparation and physicochemical characterization (size, polydispersity, zeta-potential) of 1,2-Diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (EggPC) incorporating TBH in two different dispersion media (tris-buffered saline (TBS) of pH 7.4 or in phosphate buffer solution (PS) of pH 5.5) in order to investigate how pH of dispersion media affects the incorporation efficiency of TBH into liposomes. There were further prepared three Carbopol 934 hydrogels of different concentrations (0.5, 1 and 2%) and their viscosity was measured and evaluated. Moreover, the in vitro drug release from three liposomal gels was studied, in order to investigate the ability of liposomes to act as carriers for TBH in a gel. All formulations were found to retain their original physicochemical properties at least for three weeks. These early studies on the release kinetics from liposomal gel show that Korsmeyer-Peppas model could be the best fitted model concerning the TBH release profile and could be supported biophysically from extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory.

The paper is focused on liberation of indomethacin from gels and the influence of microemulsion´s presence in the system. Liberation of drug was performed in vitro through a semipermeable membrane and drug quantity was determined spectrophotometrically. Our results pointed out that the influence of microemulsion system on drug liberation depends on the gel selection. The presence of o/w microemulsion in the lipophilic gel (aerosil in liquid paraffin) increased the released amount of the drug approximately 50%. The liberation profile of indomethacin is better when the hydrophilic gel (carbopol) was used. Drug was released in higher amounts from hydrophilic gel comparised to the commercial gel. The presence of microemulsion in carbopol gel did not have any significant influence.

The objective of this work was development and evaluation of gel-forming lyophilized formulation with recombinant human thrombin for topical administration. The influence of pH, ionic strength and buffer type on protein stability was evaluated as part of the pre-formulation screening studies. Results indicated an optimal pH from 6.0 to 7.0 and increased stability with increasing content of sodium chloride. The tested buffer types had no significant effect on thrombin stability. For further development, thermosensitive Pluronic® F-127 was employed as a bulking and gelling agent. Physical and mechanical characterization and viscosity measurement confirmed the gel-forming properties of the formulation at the application temperature of 32 °C. Several techniques (addition of well-soluble polyols, different freezing protocols and reconstitution under vacuum) were tested to decrease the reconstitution time. The obtained results revealed that a vacuum in the vial headspace is crucial for acceptable reconstitution. The freeze drying process has no negative impact on recombinant thrombin stability, and this was confirmed by reverse-phase-HPLC, activity assay and optical density measurements.

Selection of excipients used is a critical step in the design of a pharmaceutical dosage form as it affects its behavior upon application, as during storage. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate and compare the behavior of six liposomal formulations intended for topical application composed of two widely used phospholipids 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine with and without incorporation of cholesterol. Liposomal hydrogels made of hydroxyethylcellulose 3% and incorporating the anti-fungal agent terbinafine hydrochloride (E)-N-(6,6-dimethyl-2-hepten-4-inyl)-N-methyl-1-naphthalene-methanamine (-hydrochloride) were prepared, their viscosity was measured and in vitro drug release was studied. Moreover, physical stability and drug retention during storage at two different temperatures (2-8 °C and RT) were examined over time. The results showed differences in the behavior between the two phospholipids while incorporation of cholesterol at the studied concentrations was found to be of minor importance. Drug release was found to be favorable from 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) liposomal hydrogels and drug retention was found to be higher at lower storage temperature for all batches. Original physicochemical properties of all batches were found to be retained at least for a week.