The skin, in particular the stratum corneum, creates a formidable barrier to drug penetration, limiting the transdermal bioavailability of the drugs. In view of this we have attempted to evaluate the suitability of amphiphilogels, which consist solely of non-ionic surfactants, as a carrier of pharmacologically active nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug aceclofenac. During the course of studies different amphiphilogel formulations of aceclofenac for topical application were prepared by using different concentration of sorbitan monostearate (Span 60) in the presence and absence of different preservatives and polysorbates (Tween 20 and Tween 80). Permeation of aceclofenac from various amphiphilogel formulations, across the excised mice skin were investigated using modified Franz diffusion cell. Formulation F5 containing Tween 20 with 20% Span 60 and 0.05% aceclofenac showed the highest amount of drug permeation (111.57±1.34 μg in 120 min.) with permeability improvement ratio of 1.44 and the flux value of 1.98±0.03 μg/cm2.min. The result of the present study revealed that surfactants, their concentration and presence and absence of preservatives variably affect the permeation rate and amphiphilogel may be a promising carrier for aceclofenac.
