Enhancement Potential of Aloe vera on Permeation of Drugs with diverse Lipophilicites across Rat Abdominal Skin

The current work aims to study the effect of Aloe vera juice on skin permeation of drugs with diverse molecular weight and lipophilicity. Saturated solutions of lisinopril, diclofenac sodium and lacidipine in Aloe vera juice and water or water containing 40% v/v polyethylene glycol 400 (control) were used to dose rat abdominal skin mounted in Franz diffusion cells. No significant difference (p>0.05) was observed in solubilities of drugs investigated in aloe juice and control. The Aloe vera juice showed significant (p<0.05) improvement in the permeation of drugs. The flux of lisinopril, diclofenac sodium and lacidipine in Aloe vera juice was increased, respectively, 1.11, 1.11 and 1.93 times than the respective control. The penetration enhancement order was lisinopril < diclofenac sodium < lacidipine. Enhancement potential was dependent upon the molecular weight and lipophilicities of the drug in formulation, with the enhancement effect attributable to as yet unidentified components within the Aloe vera. These results demonstrated that the Aloe vera juice have penetration enhancement effect on skin permeation of drugs studied.