FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF ACYCLOVIR LOADED NOVEL NANO-EMULSION GEL FOR TOPICAL TREATMENT OF HERPES SIMPLEX VIRAL INFECTIONS

Acyclovir has low bioavailability mainly due to low solubility. This study aimed to formulate an optimized acyclovir (ACV) nanoemulsion gel for the slow, variable and incomplete oral drug absorption in patient suffering from herpes simplex viral infection. The dispersion solubility of acyclovir was studied in various oils, surfactants and co-surfactants and by constructing pseudo phase ternary diagram nanoemulsion area was identified. The optimized formulations of nanoemulsions were subjected to thermodynamic stability tests. After stability study, stable formulation was characterized for droplet size, pH determination, centrifugation, % drug content in nanoemulsion, Zeta Potential and Vesicle size measurement and than nanoemulsion gel were prepared and characterized for spreadability, measurement of viscosity, drug content, In-vitro diffusion, in-vitro release data. Span 40 was selected as surfactant, PEG 400 as co surfactant and castor oil as oil component based on solubility study. The in vitro drug release from acyclovir nanoemulsion gel was found to be considerably higher in comparison to that of the pure drug. The in-vitro diffusion of nanoemulsion gel was significantly good. Based on this study, it can be concluded the solubility and permeability of acyclovir can be increased by formulating into nanoemulsion gel. Keywords: Acyclovir, Nanoemulsion, In-vitro diffusion, Zeta potential, Stability