Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Formulation and development of dendrimer-based transdermal patches of meloxicam for management of arthritis

Xiang-Dong Duan^1,2, Chang-Jiao Ji^1,2, Lin Nie¹

¹Department of Orthopaedics, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University; ²Department of Orthopaedics, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong Traditional Chinese Medicine University, Jinan 250012, China.

For correspondence:- Lin Nie Email: nielin687@gmail.com Tel:+8653168617065

Received: 1 August 2014 Accepted: 28 February 2015 Published: 26 April 2015

Citation: Duan X, Ji C, Nie L. Formulation and development of dendrimer-based transdermal patches of meloxicam for management of arthritis. Trop J Pharm Res 2015; 14(4):583-590 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v14i4.4

© 2015 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To develop transdermal patches of meloxicam (MLX) using chitosan and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as hydrophilic polymers, polyamido amine (PAMAM) dendrimer as a permeation enhancer, and dibutyl pthalate as a plasticizer

Methods: The patches were prepared by solvent casting evaporation technique using 3-factor, 3-level Box-Behnken design. The patches were evaluated for physical appearance, thickness, weight variation, folding endurance, drug content uniformity, tensile strength, moisture absorption and moisture loss, in vitro drug release, as well as by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). A specially designed glass diffusion cell was used for the in vitro drug release study. The effect of concentrations of dependent variables (PAMAM G3, chitosan and dibutyl pthalate) on drug release was investigated.

Results: The patches demonstrated satisfactory characteristics. PAMAM dendrimer significantly enhanced (p < 0.5) the permeation of MLX. A maximum of 85.7 % drug release was achieved in 24 h.

Conclusion:Dendrimer increased the release of MLX by increasing its solubility and permeation through the membrane. Thus, dendrimer patches are a potentially suitable transdermal drug delivery system for the management of some diseased conditions.

Keywords: Dendrimers, Transdermal patches, Skin permeation, Permeation enhancer, Chitosan, Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, Meloxicam, Plasticizer