Development and Characterization of Curcumin Loaded Transfersome for Transdermal Delivery

The aim of the present cram was to investigate the potential of a tranfersomes formulation for transdermal delivery of Curcumin. Curcumin is widely used in potent anti-inflammatory herbal drug. Its activity is similar to the NSAIDs in inflammatory pain management but main problem with curcumin when given orally is its poor bioavailability due to less GI absorption. The preformulation study of drug was carried out initially in terms of identification (physical appearance, melting point and IR spectra), solubility study, and λ-max determination and results directed for the further course of formulation. Optimizations of the formulations were done by selecting various process variables such as effect of lecithin, surfactant ratio, effect of various solvents and effect of surfactants. The transfersomes were formulated by modified hand shaking method using surfactant such as Tween 80 and Span 80 in various concentrations. The entrapment efficiency was found to be PC (Lecithin): Edge Activator (Tween 80 & Span 80) ratio dependent. Higher entrapment was found to be 89.6±0.049 within T8 formulation. The average size of the vesicle also correlated with the entrapment efficiency of the formulation and found to be 339.9nm with formulation T8. Permeation which was also dependent on PC(Lecithin):Edge Activator ratio(Tween 80 & Span 80). The formulation T8, which showed higher entrapment efficiency, provides higher permeation of drug from transfersomal gel this fact confirms the above said. The present study conclude that transfersomes formed from PC:Span 80 in the ratio 85:15 (in mmol) is a promising approach to improve the permeability of Curcumin in period of time.