Design and optimization of clotrimazole emulgel by using various polymers

Emulgel is one of the recent technologies in Novel Drug Delivery system (NDDS) used for dual controlled release of emulsion and gel for topical use. The stability of emulsion is increased, when it is incorporated into gel. Clotrimazole is a broad spectrum anti - fungal agent, also a hydrophobic drug. It is difficult to formulate as topical delivery. So emulgel is one of the best approaches to incorporate hydrophobic drugs. The purpose of the present study was to develop and optimized the Clotrimazole emulgel using polymers like Carbopol 934 and HPMC K4M at different concentrations. The Preformulation studies were conducted by using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) studies, the prepared emulgels were evaluated in terms of physical appearance, measurement of pH, viscosity, spreadability, drug content and in vitro diffusion studies. In vitro drug release studies were performed up to 8hrs. Among all formulations F6 shows better releasing property. So F6 was proved as the best formulation among all. F6 containing HPMC K4M polymer in low concentration showed better releasing property when compared to formulations containing Carbopol 934. So it was suggested that the Clotrimazole emulgel have potential advantages when compared to other topical drug delivery systems for incorporating hydrophobic drugs and posses better activity and stability.