Jundishapur Journal of Natural Pharmaceutical Products 2007; 2(1): 45-58

Jundishapur
Journal of
Natural
Pharmaceutical
Products

ADHESIVE AND SPREADING PROPERTIES OF

PHARMACEUTICAL GEL COMPOSED OF CELLULOSE
POLYMER
1

Jelvehgari M1*, Rashidi MR2, Mirza mohammadi SH2

Department of pharmaceutics, School of pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz

51664, Iran
2
Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences,
Tabriz 51664, Iran
Received: 20 May 2007

Accepted: 20 July 2007

Abstract
Salicylic acid (SA) is an ideal exfoliant for use on acne and acne-prone skin. It was chosen as the
model drug. Samples were prepared by simple dispersing different hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC)
amounts (0.5-2%) in isopropyl alcohol solution and keeping in 4, 25 and 40C. In all these systems
viscosity, spreading, adhesive properties and drug release were characterized. The silastic membrane
was employed as a barrier in Franz diffusion cell to study in vitro drug release. The concentration of
drug was analyzed by means of UV spectrophotometer at the maximum wave length of 302 nm. The
increasing in HPC concentration caused increased viscosity. A relationship between the viscosity and
bioadhesive strength was shown by HPC gels. The results demonstrated that the flux of SA decreased
with increase in pH and SA permeation conformed to the pH partition hypothesis. The results showed
that increasing of the HPC concentration caused in a reduction of SA release rate SA from gels and
increasing of HPC was related to an increased viscosity of formulation. Also an increase in the ratio of
collodion: drug (2:1) and a decrease in the ratio of isopropyl alcohol: drug (less than 3:1) caused the
decrease of transparency of gel and the release rate. The results showed that diffusion of SA gel
followed peppas model.
Keywords:
Hydroxypropyl cellulose, Salicylic acid, Drug release rate, Adhesive, Spreading.

Introduction
Salicylic acid (SA) is a beta hydroxyl acid
derived from the bark of the willow tree.
Beta hydroxyl acids have a larger molecule
than their cousin, alpha hydroxyl acids. The
larger molecule size keeps the beta
hydroxyl acid on the surface of the skin
allowing it to more effectively penetrate
and exfoliate within the pore. This action
within the pores makes it an ideal exfoliant
for use on acne and acne-prone skin. The
larger molecule size of SA produces less
irritation than alpha hydroxyl acids, making it a welcome alternative for those with
sensitive skin. SA is used to treat many skin
*

E-mail: [email protected]

disorders, such as acne, dandruff, psoriasis,

seborrhea dermatitis of the skin and scalp
calluses, corns, common warts, and plantar
warts, depending on the dosage form and
strength of the preparation (1,2). Ultimate
acceptability and clinical efficacy of such
preparations require them to possess
optimal mechanical properties (ease of
removal from the container, spreadability
on the substrate), rheological properties
(viscosity, flowability), and other desired
properties such as bioadhesion, desired drug
release, and absorption (3). The efficacy of
topical therapy depends on the absorption

Jelvehgari M./ 2007; 2(1): 45-58

hydroxypropyl cellulose (grade HPC-H,

Nippon Soda, Japan), collodion (Merck,
Germany), isopropyl alcohol, castor oil,
camphor, all obtained from Merck
(Darmstadt, Germany). Silastic membrane
was provided by Biogene (Mashad, Iran).
All other chemicals and solvents were of
analytical grade.

of formulation in a layer to deliver a

standard dose. The optimum consistency of
such a formulation helps ensure that a
suitable dose is applied or delivered to the
target site. A reduced dose would not
deliver the desired effect, and an excessive
dose may lead to undesirable side effects.
The delivery of the correct dose of the drug
depends highly on the spreadability of the
formulation. The rate of spreading also
depends on the viscosity of formulation, the
rate of evaporation of solvent, and the rate
of increase in viscosity with concentration
that results from evaporation (4,5).
Spreadibility is therefore an important
characteristic of these formulations and is
responsible for correct dosage transfer to
the target site, ease of application on the
substrate, extrudability from the package,
and most important, consumer preference.
Hydroxypropyl cellulose makes thinner gels
with high tolerance for added drugs and
salts, compatible with alcohols and glycols,
hydrates and swells in water or
hydroalcoholic solution. Polymers that
adhere to skin surface can be conveniently
divided into three broad categories: (1)
polymers that become sticky when placed
in water and owe their bioadhesion to
stickiness; (2) polymers that adhere through
non-specific, non-covalent interactions
which are primarily electrostatic in nature
(although hydrogen and hydrophobic
bonding may be significant); and (3)
polymers that bind to specific receptor sites
on the cell surface. All three polymer types
can be used for drug delivery (6). The
purpose of the present investigation was to
(a) prepare salicylic acid gels using
hydroxypropyl cellulose, (b) study the
spreading and adhesive properties of gels
composed of hydroxypropyl cellulose, (c)
investigation of different parameters effect
on the release rate and flux of SA gel
formulations.

Gel preparation
The composition of SA gels used is shown
in Table 1. Hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC)
was dispersed in isopropyl alcohol and was
stirred and homogenized with paddle stirrer
for 30 min at 150-200 rpm. Then, SA
dissolved in collodion and remainder of
isopropyl alcohol was added to mixture.
This mixture was stirred magnetically, until
a homogenous solution was formed and
gradually dispersed in HPC solution.
Finally, water was added to formulation and
stirred. Gel was formed at 20 min at 100
rpm, then it was stored at 4, 25 and 40C.
(Camphor and castor oil in gel formulations
interacted with SA absorbance; therefore
simple collodion was used instead of elastic
collodion).
Determination of pH
One g of gels were weighed and diluted 10
times with isopropyl alcohol. Then, pH of
gels was measured with pH-meter (Table1).
Evaluation of gels content
One g of gels was dissolved in 10 mL of
isopropyl alcohol and then SA was assayed
by means of UV spectrophotometer at the
maximum wave length of 302 nm (Table 1).
Measurement of viscosity of gels and effect
of temperature
Viscosity of HPC was studied in different
amounts of isopropyl alcohol. Also,
aqueous solutions of HPC were prepared
with various concentrations. Viscosity was
judged in this case by a simple
measurement of apparent viscosity on the
Brookfield
scale.

Materials and methods

The following materials were used in the
study: salicylic acid (Merck, Germany),

46

Adhesive and spreading propertiese

Table 1: Composition (%w/w) of salicylic acid gels

Gels code
F1
F2
F3
F4
Salicylic acid
17
17
17
17
HPC
1
1.25
1
1
Collodion
17
17
17
34
Isopropyl alcohol(%95)
61.5
61.25
59
43
Water
3.5
3.5
6
5
pH
3.14
3.28
4.91
4.83
Mean content + SD(mg/g) 168+0.11 165+0.31 169+0.57 170+0.74
Constituents

F5
17
0.75
34
43
5.25
4.96
169+0.36

Each value is given as the mean of three experiments.

A Brookfield rotational digital viscometer

DVLV-II was used to measure the viscosity
(Pa.s) of gel formulations at 20C. Spindle
number 2 was rotated at 60 rpm. Also,
effect of temperature on the viscosity was
investigated in both solutions.
Adhesion strength measurement
The adhesion forces of SA gels were
determined by means of adhesive forcemeasuring device shown in Fig. 1 (7), using
tissue cut from mucosal area of rat hairless
abdomen. The pieces of tissues stored
frozen in phosphate buffer pH 7.4, and
thawed to room temperature before use (8).
At the time of testing, a section of rat skin
was secured (keeping the mucosal side out)
to the upper glass vial (C) using a
cyanoacrylate adhesive (E). The diameter of
each exposed mucosal membrane was 1.5
cm. The vials were equilibrated and
maintained at 37C for 10 min. Next, one
vial with a section of tissue (E) was
connected to the balance (A) and the other
vial was fixed on a height-adjustable pan
(F). To expose tissue on this vial, a constant
amount of 0.1 g SA gel (D) was applied.
The height of the vial was adjusted so that
the gel could adhere to the mucosal tissues
of both vials. Immediately, a constant force
of 1 N was applied for 10 minutes to ensure
intimate contact between the tissues and the
samples. The vial was then moved upwards
at constant speed, and was connected to the
balance. Weights were added at a constant rate to the pan on the other side of the

Fig. 1: Bioadhesive force measuring device: (A)

modified balance; (B) Weights; (C) glass vial;
(D) SA gel; (E) rat tissue; (F) height-adjustable
pan.

modified balance of the used device until

the two vials were separated. The
bioadhesive force, expressed as the
detachment stress in dyne/cm2, was
determined from the minimal weights that
detached the tissues from the surface of
each formulation using the following
equation (7).
Detachment Stress (dyne/cm2) =

m. g
A

(1)

Where m is the weight added to the balance

in grams; g is the acceleration due to
gravity taken as 980 cm/s2; and A is the
area of tissue exposed. Measurements were
repeated thrice for each of the gel
preparations, but before each measurement
a fresh smooth gel surface was created.
Effect of varying contact time (1, 2, 3, 5
and 10 min) was investigated for some of
the gel preparations to optimize initial

47

Jelvehgari M./ 2007; 2(1): 45-58

The spreading capacity of the gel

formulations was measured 48h after
preparation by measuring the spreading
diameter of 1 g of the gel between two 20
20 cm glass plates after 1 min. The mass of
the upper plate was standardized at 125 g.
Also, a similar apparatus used to assess the
spreadability of Lyncomycin hydrochloride
gels (13). The following equation was used
for the purpose:

contact time. In brief, formulations were

allowed to be in contact with mucosa for
carrying contact times (1, 2, 3, 5, and 10
min), and the bioadhesive force was
determined as discussed above. Contact
time that resulted in maximum bioadhesive
strength was selected as optimum contact
time required for adequate adhesion. All the
above three experiments were conducted in
triplicates.

S = m

Spreadability measurement
The parallel-plate method is the most
widely used method for determining and
quantifying the spreadability of semisolid
preparations (Fig. 2). The advantages of the
method are simplicity and relative lack of
expense. On the other hand, the method is
not very precise and sensitive, and data
which it generates must be manually
interpreted and presented. The spreadability
behavior of various Witepsol suppository
bases was tested between two Plexiglas
plates at 37 C, and optimum bases were
selected on the basis of their spreading
properties (9). Hadi et al. evaluated
polyethylene glycol ointment bases
spreadability
using
a
parallel-plate
extensiometer based on the sliding-plates
design (10). Later, Vennat et al. validated
the spreading-diameter measurements of
hydrogels on the basis of cellulose
derivatives and established the linearity of
spreading-diameter measurement (11, 12).

1
t

(2)

In which S is the spreadability of gel

formulation, m is the weight (g) tied on the
upper plate, l is the length (cm) of the glass
plates, and t is the time taken (s) for the
plates to slide the entire length. DePaula et
al. evaluated the spreadability of various
ointment formulations by compressing the
sample under several glass plates of known
weight (15). Twenty plates were
subsequently placed over the sample at
1-min intervals. The spreading areas
reached by the sample were measured in
millimeters in the vertical and the
horizontal axes. The results were expressed
in terms of the spreading area as a function
of the applied mass according to the
following equation:
Si = d2

(3)

V
Fluid

Fig. 2: Schematic representation of finger geometry as two parallel plates (14) V = finger velocity, Z =
thickness of sample, X = shearing stress, F = shear force between the fingers, r = radius of the finger.

48

Adhesive and spreading propertiese

In which Si is the spreading area (mm2)

resulting from the applied mass i (g), and d
is the mean diameter (mm) reached by the
sample. The spreading area was plotted
against the plate weight to obtain the
spreading profiles.

mounted on the donor side of Franz cell

(16).
Samples
were
assayed
spectrophotometrically at 302 nm. The
initial volume of the medium was
maintained by adding 3 mL of dissolution
medium after each sampling. Each test was
carried out in triplicate and the mean of
three observations was reported.

Assay procedures
Analytical method for the assay of SA
In order to determine the standard
calibration curve of SA, a stock of 1 mg/mL
was prepared. Then, dilutions were made to
prepare a series of solutions containing
SA in different
concentrations. In these
solutions, absorbance values at 302 nm
(max)
were
determined
UV
spectrophotometrically.
Plotting
the
concentration values (x) versus absorbance
values (y) calibration curve of SA was
determined. Analytical parameters for the
assay of salicylic acid were calculated using
ANOVA test.

Statistical analysis
Where appropriate, results were evaluated
using a one-way ANOVA. For intercomparisons of candidate formulations the
Tukey
HSD
(honestly
significant
difference) test was then conducted (using
SPSS version 13), Where p<0.05 was taken
to represent a statistically significant
difference (17).

Results and discussion

The effect of temperature on the viscosity
At 20 C, a 0-3% aqueous dispersion and
isopropyl alcohol of HPC was prepared and
their viscosity was measured (Fig. 3).
Aqueous solutions are transparent and have
smooth viscosity. Relationship between the
concentration of isopropyl alcohol solution
and its viscosity is similar to that of
aqueous solution (Fig. 3).
Viscosity changes in isopropyl alcohol
solutions at certain temperatures. The
relationship between temperature and
viscosity of solution is shown in Fig. 4.
Viscosity is gradually decreased with
elevation of temperature, and suddenly
dropped at a temperature above 45C.
Such a process is due to limited solubility,
but it is reversible. Viscosity of isopropyl
alcohol solution decreases with elevation of
the temperature, but unlike aqueous
solution, rapid fall in viscosity due to
gelation was not observed (Fig. 4).

Recovery studies
To study the accuracy, reproducibility,
precision, and to check the interference
from excipients used in the formulation of
the above method, recovery experiments
were carried out. In order to know whether
the excipients show any interference with
the analysis, known amounts of the pure
drug were added to the gels. Mixtures were
analyzed
spectrophotometrically.
Percentage recovery was calculated after
three experiments.
Drug release studies
The release studies were conducted using
Franz diffusion cells (ERWEKA HDT6,
Germany). Silastic membrane was fitted
into place between the chambers of cells.
The receptor phase composed of isopropyl
alcohol and the temperature was maintained
at 37C. Preliminary experiments showed
no interactions of the receptor phase with
either the membrane or the formulations
placed on the donor side. The receptor
phase was stirred at 700 rpm during the
study. A pre-determined amount of gel was

The effect of pH
At 20C, a 0-3% aqueous dispersion of
HPC exhibited pH values between 2 to 5,
depending on its concentration. In general,
increase of HPC caused increase in gel
viscosity (Fig. 5). pH of all formulations

49

Jelvehgari M./ 2007; 2(1): 45-58

solution viscosity. The rate of hydrolysis

increases with increasing temperature and
hydrogen ion concentration (6).

was adjusted to 7. Aqueous solutions of

HPC are stable between pH 6-8 with the
viscosity of solutions being relatively
unaffected.
However, at low pH, aqueous solutions may
undergo acid hydrolysis, which causes
chain scission and hence, a decrease in
Isopropyl alcohol solution

Aqueous solution

100000

Viscosity (mPa.s)

10000
1000
100
10
1
0

4
5
6
Concentration (%)

Fig. 3: Viscosity vs. concentration of water and isopropyl alcohol solution of HPC at 20C.

Isopropyl alcohol solution

Aqueous solution

Viscosity (mPa.s)

10000
1000
100
10
1
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Temperature ( C)

Fig. 4: Viscosity vs. temperature of 2% aqueous and isopropyl alcohol solution of HPC.

50

10

Adhesive and spreading propertiese

0.50%

1%

1.50%

2%

2.50%

3%

20
18
16

Viscosity (Pa.s)

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
-2
2

pH

Fig. 5: Viscosity of various HPC gels at various pH at a shear rate 40.

secondary bond forming groups (e.g.

hydroxyl, ether oxygen and amine) are the
principle source of bioadhesion (19, 20).

The effect of Viscosity on the pH

Increasing concentrations of each polymeric
component
increased
the
hardness,
compressibility, adhesiveness of the
formulations. The effects on product
hardness may be due to increased product
viscosity and, hence, increased resistance to
compression. The structures of these
systems are predominantly built up by
hydrogen bonds, which are easily breakable
under shear stress (Fig. 6). When HPC is
exposed to water, the polymer begins to
uncoil, generating an increase in viscosity
and gel formation (6).

Spreadability
The parallel-plate method is the most
widely used method for determining and
quantifying the spreadability of semisolid
preparations. Parallel-plate instruments
provide accurate, reproducible, and
statistically relevant data. The advantages
of the method are simplicity and relative
lack of expense. The spreadability is an
important factor in therapy and it is shown
as index of ease of application (Table 2).
Each value is given as the mean of the three
experiments. They were finally graded from
fluid to very stiff on the basis of the value
of obtained. Product cohesiveness has
been found to be significantly affected by
its degree of polymeric concentration, and
in nearly all cases increased polymer
concentration has led to increased viscosity
of the formulation. Therefore, the selection
of polymer combinations and relative ratios
play a very important role in formulation
development and must be carefully
considered to achieve the desired
spreadability.

Bioadhesion force
The bioadhesive force is an important
physicochemical parameter for topical
preparations (6). The addition of different
concentrations from bioadhesive polymer to
SA gel is shown in Fig. 7. The bioadhesive
force has significantly increased as the
concentration of bioadhesive polymers
increased over the range of 0.5-3%.The
maximum bioadhesive strength could be
seen at 3% concentration of HPC.
Furthermore, Ahuja et al. showed high
molecular weight is important to maximize
adhesion through entanglements and Van
der Waals forces (18). The reinforcement of
the bioadhesive forces of gel by the used
polymer could be explained by the fact that

51

Jelvehgari M./ 2007; 2(1): 45-58

increased, thus, decreasing the spreading

behavior of the polymer solution on the
tablet surface. Ferrari et al. suggested that
the gel strength of HPMC gels is related to
the degree of cross-linking in the polymer
network (21).

For
hydroxylpropylmethyl
cellulose
(HPMC) gels, its strength or cohesiveness
increased as the concentration of the
polymer was increased (21). In quantitative
evaluation of the changes of dynamic
surface tension and therefore the spreading
behavior of HPMC aqueous solutions,
various concentrations of the same were
tested against Avicel pH-101(FMC Corp.,
Philadelphia, PA) tablets. It was observed
that by increasing the concentration of
HPMC and thereby increasing the viscosity,
the dynamic contact angle values also
pH=2

pH=3

pH=4

pH=5

pH=6

pH=7

pH=8

60

Viscosity (Pa.s)

50
40
30
20
10
0
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

Sheare rate (1/s)

Fig. 6: Viscosity of HPC 1% gels at various pH.

F (dyne/cm )

6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

Polymer Concentration (%)

Fig. 7: Relationship between adhesive power (F) and polymer concentration in SA gels
at 25C.

52

3.5

Adhesive and spreading propertiese

Table 2: Physical properties of various

formulations containing salicylic acid gels
Formulation code

Spreadability()
(mmSD)

F1
F2
F3
F4
F5

15.732.58
13.341.99
16.472.83
18.533.45
20.113.81

Results of assay procedures

Results of assay of salicylic acid
Analytical parameters for the determination
of SA by UV spectrophotometric method
are given in Table 3.
Results of recovery studies
Recovery study results of SA gels are given
in Table 4. Each dose contains 17 g of
Salicylic acid. As it can be seen from Table
5 high percentage recovery shows that the
method is free from the interferences of the
excipients used in the formulation.

Each value is given as the mean of three

experiments.

The existence of a strong negative

correlation between the spreadability of a
formulation is inversely proportional to its
cohesiveness because of strong cohesive
forces within a formulation (22,23).
Therefore, the cohesiveness of the selected
ingredients must be considered during the
development of topical and mucosal
formulations (24). Increasing the viscosity
of timolol eye drops by adding sodium
carboxymethylcellulose increased the effect
three-to nine fold as compared with that of
non viscous drops. The ocular penetration
increased as a result of longer corneal
contact, and systemic absorption decreased
as result of slower spreading of the solution
on the nasal mucosa (25). Nyman-Pantelidis
et al. showed the effect of viscosity on the
retrograde
spread
of
two
enema
formulations and found a statistically
significant difference in the spread among
the low-viscosity enemas spread over a
larger area in the lower colon, mainly in the
first 15 min following administration (26).
In contrast, the enema with higher viscosity
spread over a very small part of the rectum
took a longer time to spread over the rectal
mucosa. Also, the rate and extent of
spreading was more variable with the latter
formulations. The rapid evaporation of
water from topical formulations influences
the spreadability and results in an uneven
topical dose within the treated area (26).
The formulations also must be spread
quickly and at multiple sites to ensure
correct dosage.

In vitro release studies

In different formulations of SA gel the drug
release was studied. Different kinetic
models (first-order release, Higuchi
equation and zero order release) were
employed to fit the data relating to the
kinetics of the release of SA from gels.
Increasing the concentrations of HPC
increased viscosity and, additionally, the
unique swelling significantly decreased the
percent release of the original mass of
salicylic acid, due to the properties of the
formulations. The results of F1, F2, F3 and
F4 formulations (disperse the hydroxypropyl
cellulose in isopropyl alcohol) showed that
the release kinetics on the basis of the
highest r2 and lower D% (ss) values bestfitted Peppas kinetic model (n> 0.5). The
kinetic drug release was evaluated by using
the well known exponential release
equation (27, 28).
Mt/M = ktn
(4)
In this equation, Mt/M is the fraction of
drug released, k is the kinetic constant, t is
the release time and n is the diffusion
exponent that depends on the release
mechanism and shape of swelling device
tested. For formulations, values of n =0.5
indicate Fickian release (case-I transport),
values of 0.5< n <1.0 indicate anomalous
(non-Fickian
or
coupled
diffusion/relaxation) drug release, whereas
values of n=1.0 indicate case-II or zero-

53

Jelvehgari M./ 2007; 2(1): 45-58

diffusion across the gel layer and relaxation

of the polymeric chains.
F1, F2, F3 and F4 exhibit values of the
exponent n (0.75-0.85) which indicates that
anomalous transport is very close to case-II
transport (Table 5). Release was affected
both by relaxation of the polymeric chains
and diffusion of drug. This might reflect
increased resistance of drug diffusion by the
hydrated layers of the gel. The increased
resistance could be due to the decreased
diffusivity of the drug or the increased
swelling of the gel. For F5, n is very low
(n=0.64), indicating that drug release is
almost diffusive.
Therefore, gel containing low HPC is more
swellable and less erodable than gel
containing more HPC. As the amount of
HPC increased, release rate of drug from
the gels decreased (Fig. 8).This can be
explained by the fact that diffusion may be
the most important factor controlling the
rate of drug release from the system
diffusion (30). Catellani et al. reported that
the amount of swellable polymer is
inversely related to the initial release rate
(29).

order release kinetics. Table 5 summaries

the values of n for all the samples tested.
Comparing the mechanistic information
obtained from different samples using this
equation, the calculated exponent of Eq. (1)
(Table 5) indicates that the release
mechanism is anomalous for all cases
which would be expected for swellable gels
(29). A more reliable and informative
analysis can be obtained by considering that
drug release in swellable matrices depends
on two processes: (i) drug diffusion into the
swollen polymer, and (ii) matrix swelling
due to the penetration. Calculation of the
approximate contribution of the diffusion
and relaxation mechanism to the anomalous
release process is carried out by fitting the
data to the heuristic model proposed by
Peppas and Sahlin (29) for quantifying the
two phenomena controlling the release from
a swellable polymer. The equation of the
model is;

Mt/M = k1tm + k2t2m

(5)

Where the first term of the right-hand side

represents the Fickian contribution and the
second term is the case-II relaxational
contribution. In this model, drug release
from swellable gels is described as the
result of two transport mechanisms, i.e.

Table 3: Analytical parametersfor the assay of SA

Parameter
Linearity range (g/ml)
Slope
Intercept
Determination coefficient (r2)
LODa (g/ml)
LOQb (g/ml)
a

Result
0.1-2
2.0919
0.0186
0.9992
0.01
0.10

LOD= limit of detection

LOQ= limit of quantitation

Table 4: Recovery study results for SA gels

Theoretical value (g) Practical value (g) Recovery (%)
Mean recovery SD
17
16.95
99.70
99.61 0.086
17
16.92
99.53
17
16.93
99.59

54

Adhesive and spreading propertiese

rate of release of SA or flux (g/cm2 min) is

a function of drug release and it depends on
the effects of composition of gel
formulations. Analysis of Tukey showed
that these correlations are statistically
significant (p<0.05). Flux and Q150 (Table
6) for F2 formulation were lower than other
formulations. For example the Flux and
Q150 (Table 6) for F1 formulation were
8.270, and 1245.5 g/cm2min, respectively.
When comparing formulations F1, F2, the
results showed that increasing the HPC
concentration at F2, decreased the Flux and
Q150 than F1 (9,10) whereas increasing in the
HPC concentration resulted in a decrease in
release rate but also it caused an increase in
pH. The results demonstrate that the flux of
SA increased with decreased pH, because at
low pH solutions may undergo acid
hydrolysis, which causes chain scission and
hence a decrease in solution viscosity (6).

Colombo et al. (31) have demonstrated that

the release of drug from swelling systems is
directly related to the increase in surface
area during swelling. When the amount of
polymer increased in gels, the penetration
rate of solvent into the gels was reduced.
This reduction in solvent penetration was
probably due to increased entanglement of
the polymer. Since the swelling rate of the
gels was initially slower, the SA present at
the surface of the gel was rapidly released
(15). The release of the drug from gel
formulations are shown in Fig. 8. In all
graphs, a linear relationship between Q (the
cumulative amount of drug penetrated
through the unit surface area of the
membrane) and time was obtained after 30
min (see r2 values in Table 6). Slopes of the
linear portion of release profiles were
calculated. These slopes represented the
rate of release or Flux of SA from different
formulations (Table 6). Table 6 shows the

Table 5: Analysis of release data from different formulations using Eq. (1)
Formulation
Kinetic constant
Diffusion exponent
Code
k 10-2 (m-n)
(SD)
F1
F2
F3
F4
F5

0.18

0.840.065

0.9

0.760.029

0.21

0.830.045

0.64

0.820.15

1.52

0.640.02

Table 6: The release characteristics of SA from different formulations of gel in vitro release studies
Formulation
code
F1
F2
F3
F4
F5

Fluxa
(g/cm2min)
8.2700.332
6.7530.456
7.3950.434
7.8990.551
8.0540.186

Intercept
(g/cm2)
87.13223.322
76.4262.357
251.5563.424
68.23615.352
127.22321.26

r2
0.9780.0016
0.98160.0051
0.96590.0177
0.98420.0006
0.96460.0018

Qb150
(g/cm2)
1245.518.597
1027.28.768
1239.36732.462
1181.3142.341
1242.3366.672

Flux was obtained from regression analysis between the amount of drug release per unit surface area
and time.
b
Q150 is the amount of drug release per unit surface area after 150 min.

55

Jelvehgari M./ 2007; 2(1): 45-58

The results showed that SA permeation

conformed to the pH partition hypothesis
and polymer concentration. The presence of
the inflection erodible gel delivery was
explained as a combination of diffusion and
erosion mechanism (32). In summary, the
early time delivery rate of drug proved to be
directly related to drug solubility. The
results indicated that increase of alcohol
could increase the release rate (comparing
formulations F1, F3 and F4 in Table 6,
p<0.05). Table 6 also shows that when the
amount of HPC was decreased the release
rate increased (comparing F4 and F5,
p<0.05). Isopropyl alcohol is a solvent for
SA and when the alcohol volume increases
drug release is faster from solvent and it
penetrates more to skin surface. Therefore,
the results indicated that increasing of HPC
and water percent could reduce the release
rate (F2 formulation). Also, the results
indicated that, an increase in the ratio of
collodion: drug (2:1) and decrease in the
ratio of isopropyl alcohol: drug (less than
3:1) resulted in a decrease of transparency
of gel and the release rate.

F1

F2

Conclusion
The results showed that SA permeation
conformed to the pH partition hypothesis
and polymer concentration. HPC with
different concentrations showed different
bioadhesive release characteristics. In the
gel containing SA, the drug was mainly
released by erosion (33). Gel formulation of
SA with bioadhesive properties and upper
rate release is promising for prolonging skin
residence time and thereby higher
absorption. The release rate of a drug
increases with decreasing viscosity of HPC
and hence decreases the release rate of a
drug. The results were demonstrated that
the flux of SA decreased with increased pH.
The results showed that increasing HPC
concentration caused a reduction of SA
release rate from gels and increasing HPC
was related to an increased viscosity of
formulation. Also, an increase in the ratio of
collodion: drug (2:1) and a decrease in the
ratio of isopropyl alcohol: drug (less than
3:1) caused a decrease in transparency of
gel and the release rate. The results showed
that diffusion of SA gel followed Peppas
model.

F3

F4

F5

1400

1200

Q (g/cm^2 )

1000

800

600

400
200

0
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Time (min)

Fig. 8: The release rate of salicylic acid from gel formulations containing 17% drug.

56

160

Adhesive and spreading propertiese

Acknowledgments
The financial support from the research
council of Tabriz University of Medical
Sciences is greatly acknowledged.

9.

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