Anti-inflammatory effects by transdermal application of triamcinolone acetonide gel using phonophoresis in rats

The present study was carried out to determine the feasibility of using gel formulations for the transdermal delivery of triamcinolone acetonide (TA), which is one of the synthetic glucocorticoids, in conjunction with phonophoresis, and to develop the carbopol gels of TA. For this purpose, the anti-inflammatory effects of the gel containing TA after the adoption of ultrasound were evaluated by investigating the in vivo change in the serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and histological findings. Following a muscle injury, the serum CPK activity decreased significantly in the TA gel group with phonophoresis, comparing with that in the control group and the commercial gel group given ultrasound. In the gross finding, after a muscle injury, the TA gel group with phonophoresis showed rapid moderation of the injury compared with the three other groups. The histological findings showed that the inflammation was relieved within 72 h after the injury from the TA gel group with phonophoresis. These effects were considerably higher in the phonophoresis group than in the other three groups. Overall, a TA gel using phonophoresis might be used as a new transdermal delivery technique providing enhanced anti-inflammatory effects.