Design and Development of Allopurinol Emulgel

The objective of this study was to investigate the potential application of emulgel in enhancing the topical delivery of Allopurinol. Emulgels of Allopurinol were prepared using Carbopol 940 in different ratio as gelling agent. As Allopurinol is poorly water soluble, it was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide and was added in o/w emulsion which was then incorporated in gel base. Formulated emulgels were evaluated for physicochemical parameters including physical appearance, pH, viscosity, spreadability, extrudability, homogeneity, drug content and in vitro drug release. Drug diffusion across cellophane membrane was performed using modified franz diffusion cell with phosphate buffer solution with pH 7.4 as the receptor medium. All formulations showed acceptable physical properties, homogeneity, consistency, spreadability, viscosity, pH and stability study. However, the formulation F 3 containing Carbopol 940 and penetration enhancer eugenol 8 ml showed excellent drug release across cellophane membrane.