Abstract

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF HERBAL ANTIFUNGAL NAIL LACQUER FOR THE TREATMENT OF ONYCHOMYCOSIS

Aneesha V., Gopi S., Jaison Rasel Jose, Karan S., Snehadevi M., Dr. S. Jeevanandham and Akshara V. Anil*

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Abstract

Around 19% of the world population is suffering from onychomycosis among which 80% cases of Onychomycosis have affected toenails. There are varieties of topical and oral formulations used, like tablets, creams, solutions, gels, and nail patches. Traditional topical treatments for onychomycosis are not clinically effective because the nail barrier needs to be penetrated for formulations containing active agents to reach the target site at therapeutic concentrations. Nail is the less vascular area. Therefore, nail lacquer will be a more effective formulation than other formulations, mainly oral administration. Also, long-term use of antifungal drugs like amorolfine, ciclopirox, griseofulvin, and terbinafine has side effects. Here arises the importance of medicinal plants. Many of the herbs used today have been valued for their antimicrobial and antifungal effects. Mimosa pudica and Piper betel have excellent antifungal activity due to the presence of phenolic constituents. The objective of the present study is to formulate and evaluate an anti-fungal nail lacquer using Mimosa pudica and Piper betel. The herbs were collected, dried, extracted, and further subjected to phytochemical analysis, which included tests for phenols, tannins, steroids, glycosides, and flavonoids. The nail lacquer formulation was prepared by simple mixing using nitrocellulose, ethyl cellulose, ethyl acetate, salicylic acid, dibutyl phthalate, Mimosa pudica, and piper betel extract. The formulated herbal nail lacquer was subjected to a comparison study with a marketed formulation (ciclopirox nail lacquer) to prove the efficiency of herbal nail lacquer. It was analysed for non-volatile content, thickness of film, water resistance, antifungal activity, etc. All batches of formulation possess good film thickness, water resistance, drying time, folding endurance, etc. The antifungal activity of the F3 and F4 formulations is higher than that of the standard fluconazole drug.

Keywords: Antifungal agents, Mimosa pudica, Herbal nail lacquer, Onychomycosis.