Nanosuspensions based gel as delivery system of nitrofurazone for enhanced dermal bioavailability

The purpose of this study was to develop stable nitrofurazone nanosuspensions based gel (NTZ nanogel) suitable for topical delivery with a view to increase skin bioavailability. NTZ nanosuspension (NTZ-NS) was fabricated by wet media milling technique, optimized by Box–Behnken design and then suitably gelled for systematically characterization. In order to confirm the advantages of NTZ nanogel for dermal application, skin permeation and retention studies in vitro were performed in comparison with NTZ marketed gel by using Franz diffusion cells. SEM showed that NTZ-NS were rectangular in shape and still stably kept their particle size after suitably gelled by carbopol preparation. In vitro dissolution studies exhibited a significant enhancement in dissolution rate of the drug from nanogel (85.73%) in comparison to the NTZ marketed gel (70.55%) after 24 h. In vitro permeation studies indicated that the amount of NTZ permeated through skin of NTZ nanogel (220.89 μg/cm2) after 24 h was higher than NTZ marketed gel (61.30 μg/cm2), and NTZ nanogel increased the accumulative amount of NTZ in rats' skin 5.5 times than NTZ marketed gel. These results suggested that nanogel is eligible for the use as suitable nanomedicine for topical delivery of poorly soluble drugs such as NTZ.