Proniosomes as a drug carrier for transdermal delivery of meloxicam

Abstract

The current investigation aims to evaluate the potential of proniosomes as a carrier for transdermal delivery of a potent non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, meloxicam. Meloxicam-loaded proniosomes were prepared and characterized for entrapment efficiency, surface morphology and in-vitro permeation across excised rat skin from various proniosome gel formulations using Franz diffusion cells. Various non-ionic surfactants were used to achieve optimum encapsulation efficiency. Niosomes formed from using Spans and Tweens exhibited high encapsulation efficiency. The prepared proniosomes significantly improved drug permeation and reduced the lag time (p< 0.05). Proniosomes prepared with Span 60 provided a higher meloxicam flux across the rat skin than did those prepared with Tween 80. Testing of the anti-inflammatory effect of meloxicam proniosomal gel showed better pharmacological activity when compared with the standard meloxicam gel. The results suggest that proniosomes can act as promising carriers offer an alternative approach for transdermal delivery of meloxicam.