Development and In-vitro Evaluation of In-situ Nasal Gels of Zafirlukast

Zafirlukast is a leukotriene receptor antagonist used for the maintenance treatment of Asthma. It rapidly gets absorbed from gastrointestinal tract because it is subjected to first pass metabolism. The objective of the present research work was to develop and evaluate muco-adhesive in-situ nasal gels of zafirlukast. This drug delivery system can overcome first pass metabolism, enhance nasal residence time due to its mucoadhesive strength and increased viscosity thereby subsequently improving the drugs bioavailability. The in-situ nasal gels of zafirlukast were formulated using different ratios of Guar gum and HPMC-K100M polymers and were subjected to various evaluation tests. From the in-vitro permeation results, it was found that formulation F6 containing guar gum and HPMC-K100M polymers in 0.3% w/v and 1.2% w/v concentrations respectively were found to be better as compared to remaining formulations. These results demonstrate the suitability of guar gum and HPMC-K100M polymers for the fabrication of sustained release mucoadhesive in-situ nasal gels of zafirlukast.