Itraconazole

ABSTRACTThe area between nail and skin are generally affected one that are hard to reach, hence nail drug delivery is interesting and gaining importance. However, the effectiveness of topical therapies is limited by minimal drug permeability through nail plate. Since it is challenging approach to deliver the drug through the nail skin at infected area. The present investigation focuses on the formulation and optimization of medicated nail lacquer containing itraconazole for transungual drug delivery system using nitrocellulose as polymer and two different penetration enhancers (thioglycolic acid and DMSO). The prepared formulation was evaluated for the different parameters like drying time, water resistance, antifungal activity, in vitro diffusion studies and stability studies. Among all formulated batches, A2 batch containing (thioglycolic acid and DMSO) showed better (51.58%) drug release compared to all batches. Findings of the study suggest that combination of permeation enhancers (thioglycolic acid: DMSO 3:6) shows better results compared to other batches. The stability studies of A2 at 40± 2oC5%RH for 2 months does not showed any physical changes during study period and stable at storage conditions. It can concluded that, the nail lacquer formulation containing itraconazole is patient friendly and it is effective dosage form for treating fungal nail infection. Keywords: Ungual drug deliveries, antifungal nail lacquer, Itraconazole, DMSO, Thioglycolic acid.