FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF TOPICAL MELOXICAM NIOSOMAL GEL

Now-a-days a tremendous research work is going on to overcome the barrier properties of the skin. Rece ntly niosomes have been reported for enhanced delivery of drugs. Niosomes are globular submicroscopic vesicles composed of nonionic surfactants. Meloxicam entrapped niosomes were prepared by thin film hydration technique usin g Nonionic surfactants (Span-80, Span-60, Tween-80 and Tween-60), Cholesterol and drug in different ratios. The p repared niosomes were characterized for size, shape, entrapment effi ciency, in vitro drug release and in vivo performance. The niosomes appeared as round in shape and size range was found to be 1.54 - 2.64µm. Among all formulations FS80 4 has shown high entrapment efficiency and consistent drug release p attern. In vivo anti inflammatory activity of niosomal gel prepared with FS80 4 was studied and compared with anti inflammatory activity of conventional meloxicam gel adopting Carra geenan induced rat paw edema method. The studies were demonstrated that niosomal gel was shown better pharmac ological activity than the conventional meloxicam gel. Based on the r esults it was concluded that niosomal preparation o ffers more advantages than the conventional preparations.