|| Bioinfo Publications || 153 EFFECT OF PENETRATION ENHANCERS ON IN VITRO PERMEATION OF NYSTATIN FROM TOPICAL FORMULATIONS International Journal of Drug Discovery ISSN: 0975-4423 & E-ISSN: 0975-914X, Volume 4, Issue 2, 2012, pp.-153-159. Available online at http://www.bioinfo.in/contents.php?id=24 MARZOUK M.A.*, AMMAR A.A., DARWISH M.K. AND EL-SAYED H.A. Pharmaceutics Department, Faculty of Pharmacy (Girls), Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt. *Corresponding Author: Email- maboushady2000@yahoo.com Received: July 10, 2012; Accepted: July 26, 2012 Abstract- Nystatin is a polyene antifungal drug that is of particular interest because it exhibits remarkable action against a wide range of pathogenic and non-pathogenic yeast and fungi. Transdermal and topical delivery of drugs provide advantages over conventional oral administration. The benefit of transdermal systems includes convenience, improved patient compliance and elimination of hepatic first pass effect. The aim of this work is to formulate and evaluate topical gel containing nystatin and to improve the antifungal activity of nysta- tin through using different penetration enhancers namely propylene glycol (PG) 10%, polyethyleneglycol (PEG) 400, ethanol, oleic acid, eucalyptus oil, tween 80 each in concentration of 5% and dimethylformamide (DMF) 3%with objectives of prolonging its action. The formu- lae showing the best drug release were selected to study the effect of storage on drug content and pH measurements over a period of 3 months and finally for microbiological evaluation. Among different penetration enhancers used, propylene glycol showed the highest effect on the amount drug permeated followed by dimethylformamide. Keywords- Nystatin, Enhancers, Gel- dimethylformamide, propylene glycol, polyethyleneglycol Introduction In vitro percutaneous absorption experiments are usually conduct- ed in a model system using a diffusion cell, in which an artificial membrane representative of the epidermal barrier is fixed. Animal or human skin may also be used instead of the artificial membrane, such a system does not simulate the in vivo condition in which an efficient and variable blood supply removes the penetrating drug at various rates. Although in vitro methods are of limited values, yet they are im- portant means of assessing the ability of a vehicle to release the drug, to determine the general routes of penetration and to com- pare the efficacy of various solvents, or other adjuvants on percuta- neous absorption from a new dosage form. Penetration enhancers are taken as additives incorporated into a formulations in order to promote the absorption of drugs from oint- ments or gels. In an attempt to enhance the drug release from the prepared gels, a representative model from previous study contain- ing carpobol 934 (Cp934 1%), sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (NaCMC 5%), methyl cellulose (MC3%), hydroxypropylmethylcellu- lose (HPMC3%) and Poloxamer 407 (Polox407 20%) were chosen to modulate nystatin release by the use of various penetration en- hancers namely propylene glycol, dimethylformamide, polyethylene glycol 400, ethanol, eucaluptus oil, oleic acid and tween 80. These enhancers are commonly used as effective penetration enhancers for many drugs [1,4,6,14,15]. In this study, permeation rates of nystatin from different bases through cellulose membrane and rabbit skin were studied. In addi- tion, the effect of penetration enhancers on permeation rates of nystatin from selected formula was investigated. Materials Nystatin pure sample and Carbopol 934 and triethanolamine were kindly supplied by Delta pharma (Egypt). Disodium hydrogen phos- phate, potassium dihydrogen phosphate, methyl cellulose and Carboxymethylcellulose sodium powders from El- Nasr Pharma- ceutical Co. (Egypt). Hydroxypropylmethylcellulose powder low viscosity (6000) from Sigma Chemical Co. (USP). Poloxamer 407 was kindly supplied by the Egyptian International Pharmaceutical Industries Co (EPICO), Egypt. Dimethylformamide (DMF) and pro- pylene glycol (PG) (Misr Chemical co., Cairo, Egypt). Pure pharma- ceutical grades of: Polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG), ethanol, euca- lyptus oil, oleic acid and tween 80. Cellulose membrane, molecular weight cut-off 10,000 (Arthur H. Thomas Co., Philadeliphia, Pa, USA). Sabouraud's agar, consisting of 2% glucose, 1% neopep- tone and 2% agar, Oxoid Co., (England). Strain of fungi such as Candida albicans ATCC (American typing culture collection). Citation: Marzouk M.A., et al (2012) Effect of Penetration Enhancers on In Vitro Permeation of Nystatin From Topical Formulations. Interna- tional Journal of Drug Discovery, ISSN: 0975-4423 & E-ISSN: 0975-914X, Volume 4, Issue 2, pp.-153-159. Copyright: Copyright©2012 Marzouk M.A., et al This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribu- tion License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credit- ed. International Journal of Drug Discovery ISSN: 0975-4423 & E-ISSN: 0975-914X, Volume 4, Issue 2, 2012