Innovative topical niosomal gel formulation containing diclofenac sodium (niofenac)

The purpose of this research was to enhance the transdermal delivery of diclofenac sodium niosomal formulations. To characterise the obtained niosomes, SEM, XRPD, DSC and ATR-FTIR were employed. The size of the niosomes increased from 158.00 ± 6.17 to 400.87 ± 4.99 nm when cholesterol was incorporated into the formulations. It was observed that the zeta potential of niofenac varies from −25.40 ± 1.352 to −43.13 ± 1.171 mV when the cholesterol percentage decreased from 2% to 0.2%. The higher entrapment efficiency percentage (63.70 ± 0.18%) was obtained for the formulations with larger particle sizes and higher cholesterol content. The optimised niofenac formulation showed a controlled release fashion where 61.71 ± 0.59% of the drug released within 24 h. The results showed that the value of permeated diclofenac sodium through the skin layers was higher for the niofenac gel formulation (242.3 ± 31.11 µg/cm2) compared to simple gel formulation (127.40 ± 27.80 µg/cm2). Besides, niofenac formulation outperformed the anti-inflammatory activities in the formalin test compared to the control and diclofenac simple gel group. The licking time was significantly lower in both early (40.2 ± 7.3 s) and late stages (432.4 ± 31.7 s) for niofenac compared to conventional formulation (early stage 130.4 ± 8.73 s and late stage 660.6 ± 123.73 s). This study indicates that niosomal formulations can improve drug therapeutic effects by increasing drug delivery to specific sites.