Development of Topical Gel of Methotrexate Incorporated Ethosomes and Salicylic Acid for the Treatment of Psoriasis

摘要

Background: There is an unmet need for optimized drug delivery system ofpsoriasis therapy because of various issues like adverse reaction, permeation problem associatedwith convention treatment (oral and topical) available for psoriasis.Objective: The goal was to develop an ethosomal gel of methotrexate (MTX)-incorporatedethosomes and salicylic acid (SA) and to evaluate and study its ethosomal gel potential inImiquimod-induced psoriasis animal model to treat symptoms of psoriasis.Methods: MTX-SA ethosomal gel was prepared by the cold method given by Touitou etal. and optimized by comparing it with MTX ethosomal gel and drug solution. Particlesize, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency, and ex-vivo study were selected as the criticalquality checking attributes. Psoriatic Area and Severity Index (PASI) scoreandhistopathologicalexamination were done for checking Antipsoriatic potential of MTX-SA ethosomalgel by using the imiquimod-induced psoriasis model.Results: Optimized MTX-SA exhibited a particle size of 376.04 ± 3.47nm, EE(Entrapmentefficiency) of 91.77 ± 0.02%. At the end of 24h, MTX-SA ethosomal gel exhibited a slowand prolonged release of MTX (26.13 ± 1.61% versus 6.97 ± 0.06%) compared to MTXdrug solution. It also attributes of 43% retention study as compared to drug solution (13%).Besides, it essentially decreased the PASI score with the recuperation of normalcy of themice's skin, while the MTX-SA gel displayed indications of gentle hyper and parakeratosistoward the completion of investigation when contrasted with the blank gel.Conclusion: The developed MTX-SA ethosomal gel formulation can be a promising alternativeto existing MTX formulation in topically treating psoriasis.