Research Article
Effect of In Vitro Transcorneal Approach of Aceclofenac Eye
Drops through Excised Goat, Sheep, and Buffalo Corneas
Vivek Dave, Sarvesh Paliwal, Sachdev Yadav, and Swapnil Sharma
Department of Pharmacy, Banasthali University, Banasthali 304022, India
Correspondence should be addressed to Vivek Dave; vivekdave1984@gmail.com
Received 4 July 2014; Revised 1 September 2014; Accepted 11 September 2014
Academic Editor: Paul Danckwerts
Copyright © 2015 Vivek Dave et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Te current study involves the evaluation of factors that infuence the transcorneal permeation of aqueous drops of aceclofenac
ophthalmic formulation through freshly excised goat, sheep, and bufalo corneas. Aceclofenac formulation with diferent
concentrations 0.1–0.5%(w/v) and with diferent pH and diferent preservatives, was taken into account. Te amount of drug
permeated from diferent formulations was estimated using an Franz difusion cell. A linear increase in drug permeation was
observed with increase in pH (5.5 to 7.4). Te apparent permeability coefcient was found to be maximum 15.01±0.45 on goat cornea
and maximum transport of aceclofenac was observed at physiological pH of tears (i.e., 7). Te results advocate that aceclofenac
0.5%(w/v) ophthalmic solution (pH 7.0) containing BAK (0.01%) provides maximum in vitro ocular permeability through goat,
sheep, and bufalo corneas.
1. Introduction
Te feld of ocular drug delivery is one of the interesting and
challenging endeavors facing the pharmaceutical scientist.
Te cornea is a transparent tissue in the eye that is responsible
for the refraction of incoming light and is a multilayered
tissue made up of three major cell layers: the epithelium,
the stroma, and the endothelium [1]. A corneal epithelium
is a stratifed cell membrane and its apical tight junctions
between surface epithelial cells are considered to be the most
prominent barrier for corneal absorption. Topical delivery
into the conjunctival cul-de-sac is by far the most common
route of ocular drug [2]. Absorption from this site may be
corneal or noncorneal. Te corneal absorption represents the
major mechanism of absorption for most therapeutic entities.
Te cornea is a trilaminate structure consisting of three major
difusional barriers, epithelium, stroma, and endothelium
[3]. Nonsteroidal anti-infammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are
recommended for treatment of various pains, infammatory
conditions of eye, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
It acts by blocking cyclooxygenase pathway. NSAIDs have
proven to be a safe and efective alternative to corticosteroids
in the topical management of ocular infammations [4]. For
treating ocular diseases, eye drops may be used but requires
frequent instillation of highly concentrated solutions due to
rapid precorneal loss from the eye. So, a prolonged action
pharmaceutical may be recommended. Aceclofenac eye drop
is not available in market so in this we use a novel approach
to formulate aceclofenac eye drops to reduce eye infam-
mation. Currently these drugs are used topically varying
widely in inhibition of intraoperative miosis, management
of postoperative infammation, treatment of seasonal allergic
conjunctivitis, prevention and treatment of cystoid macu-
lar edema, and the control of pain afer photo refractive
keratectomy. NSAIDs have also been found to be useful
in decreasing bacterial colonization of contact lenses and
preventing bacterial adhesion to human corneal epithelial
cells [5, 6].
Rabbit cornea has been preferred in the majority of the
permeation studies which is now been restricted by most of
Animal Ethical Committees across the globe. Keeping this
view in mind, three diferent corneas of goat, sheep, and
bufalo were selected for this study. Corneas were procured
from local butcher’s shop at Banasthali, Newai, Rajasthan. Te
current study focuses on diferent factors like pH, nature and
amount of preservatives, that infuences rate of permeation
(in vitro) of an aceclofenac formulation through diferent
freshly excised corneas of goat, sheep, and bufalo.
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
e Scientific World Journal
Volume 2015, Article ID 432376, 7 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/432376