Abstract

A RESEARCH ON: FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF NYCTANTHES ARBOR AND CALOTROPIS GIGANTEAN CONTAINING EMUGEL FOR RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

*Rutuja Satish Modhave, *Shraddha Madan Khaladkar, *Payal Hemant Padwal, ayshree Ravindra Matade

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disorder characterized by persistent synovial inflammation, joint pain, swelling, stiffness, and progressive destruction of cartilage and bone. Because conventional systemic therapy may cause gastrointestinal, hepatic, renal, and immunological adverse effects, topical herbal drug delivery systems are increasingly explored as safer alternatives for local symptom control. In this study, a combined herbal emulgel containing extracts of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis and Calotropis gigantea was designed for topical management of RA. Nyctanthes arbor-tristis has documented anti-rheumatic activity in FCA-induced arthritis models, with reduction in paw edema, arthritic index, TNF-α, COX-2, rheumatoid factor, and histopathological joint damage.[1] Its phytochemicals also show favorable anti-inflammatory interactions with COX-2 and cytokine-related targets in computational studies.[2] Calotropis gigantea has similarly shown anti-arthritic, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory activity in CFA-induced arthritis, including downregulation of IL-6, TNF-α, NF-κB, and COX-2.[3] Emulgel was selected because it combines the favorable spreadability of gels with the drug-loading and permeation advantages of emulsions, making it suitable for topical anti-inflammatory delivery.[4,5] The present manuscript describes the formulation of 20 g batches, evaluation parameters, and a structured research-paper format suitable for academic submission. The optimized emulgel is expected to show acceptable pH, good homogeneity, adequate spreadability, sustained release, and improved local delivery for RA symptom management.

Keywords: Nyctanthes arbor, calotropis gigantea, anti-inflammatory activity, herbal formulation, topical drug delivery, arthritis management.