Designing, Optimising, and Assessing a Novel Emulgel Containing Minoxidil for Controlled Drug Release, Incorporating...

Area of Science:

• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Biomaterials Science

Background:

• Androgenetic alopecia is a common cause of hair loss.
• Minoxidil is a widely used drug for hair growth promotion.
• Developing effective drug delivery systems is crucial for enhancing therapeutic outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To formulate and optimize an emulgel containing minoxidil for hair growth.
• To investigate the potential of chitosan and fucoidan as gelling agents.
• To evaluate the release kinetics and stability of the minoxidil emulgel.

Main Methods:

• Selection and optimization of chitosan-fucoidan combination as gelling agents.
• Formulation of minoxidil emulgel with varying concentrations of chitosan and fucoidan.
• In vitro evaluation of drug release, gelling activity, water absorption, and stability.
• Analysis of release kinetics using kinetic models.

Main Results:

• The optimal emulgel formulation (X2) contained 2.54% chitosan and 0.896% fucoidan.
• Chitosan contributed to prolonged and controlled drug release.
• Fucoidan enhanced gelling activity, water absorption, and formulation stability.
• The X2 formulation exhibited 99.7% drug release at 12 hours, following a zero-order release model.

Conclusions:

• The developed minoxidil emulgel using chitosan and fucoidan is a promising formulation for hair growth promotion.
• Fucoidan's biological activities protect the drug and improve its potency, leading to effective treatment.
• The formulation's controlled release profile and stability suggest its potential for treating androgenetic alopecia.
• Fucoidan's diverse properties indicate its future utility in the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries.