Abstract

PREPARATION OF THYMOQUINONE NIOSOMAL GEL AND EVALUATION OF ANTI INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY IN RATS

Syeda Aiman Faheem* and Dr. Abdul Mannan

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Abstract

Thymoquinone (TQ) is the major active constituent in Nigella sativa and has shown to possess beneficial activities like anti histaminic, anti inflammatory and immunopentiating. Thymoquinone topical application is restricted due to its hydrophobicity, reduced aqueous solubility and permeability. So to overcome these disadvantages thymoquinone niosomes are formulated which helps in enhanced solubility and permeability. The aim of this work is the formulation and development of Thymoquinone niosomal gel and evaluation of AntiInflammatory Activity in rats. Preformulation studies shows high solubility of Thymoquinone in methanol and FTIR shows no interaction between drug and excipients, Absorption maxima of Thymoquinone in methanol was found to be 255 nm. Niosomes were prepared by thin film hydration method using different surfactants (Spans40, Span60, Span 80) with different ratio each. SEM of optimized Thymoquinone niosomes appeared as spherical, well identified, unilamellar nanovesicles. The drug content and entrapment efficiency was found to be 87.89 % & 89.58% respectively. The zeta potential of the optimised formulation was found to be -24mV and the particle size of the optimised formulation was found to be in the range of 145-150nm., The gel prepared was of good homogenecity and the evaluation parameters like spreadibility was 79.5±0.26cm, viscosity 19521±0.75 pa/s, pH =6.5, drug content was 87.89% and invitro drug release was found to be 96.78±0.29%. When release kinetics is applied it follows zero order and Higuchi model. Finally, stability studies showed that Niosomal gel prepared is more stable at 4oC when compared to room temperature. Thymoquinone Niosomal gel showed good release kinetics along with good stability. Invivo studies of the 0.4% thymoquinone gel was performed and the results showed that there was a significant decrease in the paw edema when treated with F6 formulation, initially the volume of the was 9.93±0.04mm on the 1st day and then gradually decreased to 6.56±0.04mm on the 9th day.

Keywords: Thymoquinone, Niosomes, Anti-inflammatory, Topical gel etc.