Preparation and Formulation Optimization of Ketoprofen Microemulsion-based Gel / 中国药学杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To prepare the ketoprofen microemulsion-based gel in order to expand its drug loading and increase the transdermal permeability. METHODS: The proportion range of oil phase/surfactant in ketoprofen microemulsion were screened by the pseudo-ternary phase diagram. Optimization of formulation for microemulsion gels was conducted by central composite design-response surface methodology with the cumulative permeation quantity across in vitro rat skin and time-lag as evaluation indexes.The transdermal performance of self prepared gel was compared with the commercially available gel. RESULTS: The optimal oil phase, surfactant and cosurfactant of ketoprofen microemulsion were oleic acid, polyoxy ethylene castor oil (EL-35) and ethanol, respectively.The optimal microemulsion formulation was 1.35% oleic acid, 10.8% EL-35, and 9% ethanol by central composite design experiment. The cumulative penetration quantity in 24 h reached 562.82 μg•cm-2 in vitro rat skin was 1.35 times as much as commercially available gel. CONCLUSION: The ketoprofen microemulsion-based gel prepared in this study has good permeability, which lay the foundation for development of the gel.