ABSTRACT

The study was aimed at developing topical gel containing papain as the drug and assessing its antipsoriatic activity. Carbopol was used as the polymer and drug-excipient compatibility was ascertained by infrared spectroscopy (Fourier transform) and differential scanning calorimetry. All prepared formulations were evaluated for viscosity, pH, homogeneity, extrudability, spreadability, in vitro diffusion and release kinetics. Anti-proliferative activity was determined on HaCaT cell line. The optimized formulation, F2 exhibited pH 6.8, optimum viscosity, extrudability and spreadability for convenient use. The optimized formulation followed Higuchi kinetic model with release mechanism being super-case two transport. The anti-proliferative activity of optimized formulation on HaCaT cell line showed only 3.9 % cells to be viable with respect to control confirming its efficacy in treating psoriasis. The gel exhibited stability under accelerated stability conditions. It can be inferred from the study that papain gel can be effectively used for managing psoriasis and its single application would give prolonged action.