Screening of mucoadhesive vaginal gel formulations

Authors

  • Ana Ochoa Andrade Universidad de la República; Facultad de Química; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • María Emma Parente Universidad de la República; Facultad de Química; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • Gastón Ares Universidad de la República; Facultad de Química; Department of Food Science and Technology

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/S1984-82502014000400029

Abstract

Rational design of vaginal drug delivery formulations requires special attention to vehicle properties that optimize vaginal coating and retention. The aim of the present work was to perform a screening of mucoadhesive vaginal gels formulated with carbomer or carrageenan in binary combination with a second polymer (carbomer, guar or xanthan gum). The gels were characterised using in vitro adhesion, spreadability and leakage potential studies, as well as rheological measurements (stress and frequency sweep tests) and the effect of dilution with simulated vaginal fluid (SVF) on spreadability. Results were analysed using analysis of variance and multiple factor analysis. The combination of polymers enhanced adhesion of both primary gelling agents, carbomer and carrageenan. From the rheological point of view all formulations presented a similar behaviour, prevalently elastic and characterised by loss tangent values well below 1. No correlation between rheological and adhesion behaviour was found. Carbomer and carrageenan gels containing the highest percentage of xanthan gum displayed good in vitro mucoadhesion and spreadability, minimal leakage potential and high resistance to dilution. The positive results obtained with carrageenan-xanthan gum-based gels can encourage the use of natural biocompatible adjuvants in the composition of vaginal products, a formulation field that is currently under the synthetic domain.

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Published

2014-12-01

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Screening of mucoadhesive vaginal gel formulations . (2014). Brazilian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 50(4), 931-941. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1984-82502014000400029