Optimization of Ibuprofen Delivery through Rat Skin from Traditional and Novel Nanoemulsion Formulations

The topical delivery of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as Ibuprofen has been explored as a potential method of avoiding the first pass effects and the gastric irritation, which may occur when used orally. Ibuprofen is formulated into many topical preparations to reduce the adverse effects and simultaneously avoid the hepatic first-pass metabolism as well. However, it is difficult to obtain an effective concentration through topical delivery of Ibuprofen due to its low skin permeability. The aim of this study was to develop two types of nanoemulsions formulations and focused on the screening of Ibuprofen-loaded nanoemulsions and evaluating the influence of these types of nanoemulsions on the skin permeability of the drug. In both nanoemulsion formulations, oil was similar, but the surfactant and co-surfactant were different. The effect of independent variables on skin permeability parameters was evaluated using full factorial design. Results demonstrate that novel formulations were more effective as skin enhancer than traditional formulation. In case of the novel formulation, any increase in percentage of surfactant and co-surfactant had increasing effect on flux (Jss). On the other hand, the proportion of surfactant/co-surfactant (S/C) demonstrated reverse correlation with Jss. While, in traditional formulations, direct correlation was found between both variables, and Jss. Comparison between two types of nanoemulsion formulations revealed that, novel formulations were more effective as topical Ibuprofen carrier in contrast to traditional type due to lower amounts of surfactant and co-surfactant and less irritating effect.