Abstract

Flurbiprofen appears to be more active as an antiinflammatory agent than other NSAID products and is usually well tolerated. Gels have gained more and more importance because the gel-based formulations are better percutaneously absorbed than creams and ointment bases. Therefore, flurbiprofen gel formulations were made with different polymers like carbopol940 (0.6-1.2%) and hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) (1.0-4.0%) containing various permeation enhancers namely sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) (0.25-1.0%) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) (5-20%) at different proportions, having 1% concentration of drug. The formulated gels were evaluated for drug content, pH, viscosity and in vitro release through the Sigma membrane. Its physical stability was evaluated by freeze-thaw cycling. Selected formulations were evaluated for its antiinflammatory activity using the carrageenin-induced paw edema in rats. The physical stability study revealed that the carbopol 940 gels were highly stable and the gels with HPMC were physically unstable. The carbopol with 15% of DMSO showed best in vitro release of flurbiprofen. In vivo study for the selected formulation showed significant (P<0.001) antiinflammatory activity in the carrageenin-induced paw edema in rat.