DESIGN OF MEDICATED STICKS FOR THE TREATMENT OF WARTS

A wart is generally a small, rough tumor usually painless growths on the skin, typically on hands and feet, that can resemble a cauliflower or a solid blister. Warts are common, and are caused by a viral infection, specifically by the human papillomavirus (HPV) and are contagious when in contact with the skin of another. It is also possible to get warts from using towels or other objects. They typically disappear after a few months but can last for years and can reoccur.The topical drug delivery systems available for the treatment have several disadvantages like greasiness, inconvenient to store and requires applicator or use of fingertip, which may lead to contamination. Therefore, it was found essential to find an alternative to counter all the above disadvantages effectively and hence in the present work, formulation and development of medicated sticks has been planned with the drug, salicylic acid that has keratolytic activity. The preparation and characterization of medicated sticks was carried out in four phases. Phase I studies includes optimization of non medicated sticks using the ointment bases with varied concentrations of waxes which is done by measuring the parameters like weight, thickness and length. From these parameters optimized formula is screened out. Phase II studies involves incorporation of medicament in the optimized formula by heating and congealing process. Phase III studies includes characterization of prepared medicated sticks for weight variation, thickness, length, size, shape and drug content uniformity. Phase IV studies involves in vitro drug diffusion studies by using prehydrated cellophane membrane for 160 minutes in pH 7.5 phosphate buffer showed an excellent drug release. Primary skin irritation studies carried out on guinea pigs, showed no sensitization and edema on skin after 72 hrs of application. Stability studies conducted for a period of 3 weeks and FT-IR Spectral analysis conducted. The results of present study revealed that the prepared medicated sticks of salicylic acid are convenient, equally effective, without any contamination chances on application and free from skin irritation.