Abstract

FORMULATION, DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF POLYHERBAL GEL FOR EFFECTIVE TREATMENT OF ACNE

Asifa Siddiqui^*1, Juhi Dubey¹, Kuldeep Ganju¹, Prabhat Jain²

¹Sagar Institute of Pharmacy and Technology, Opposite International Airport, Gandhi Nagar, Bhopal,(M.P.).
²Scan Research Laboratories, Indrapuri, Bhopal (M.P.)

ABSTRACT

Medicinal plants play an important role in the development of potent therapeutic agents. Plant based drugs provide outstanding contribution to modern therapeutics as a source of many valuable secondary metabolites which serves as plant defence mechanisms against predator such as microorganism, insects and herbivores which have been proved to be potentially active compounds. There is a tremendous increase in search of antimicrobial plant extracts due to the fact that the resistance offered against antibiotic by the microorganism, in short the effective life span of any antibiotic is limited. Acne is a common but serious skin disease, which affects approximately 80% adolescents and young adults in 11-30 age groups. 42.5% of men and 50.9% of women continue to suffer from this disease into their twenties. Acne vulgaris (acne) is a cutaneous pleomorphic disorder of the pilosebaceous unit involving abnormalities in sebum production and is characterized by both inflammatory (papules, pustules and nodules) and non-inflammatory (comedones, open and closed) lesions. Propi¬onibacterium acnes are common pus-forming microbes responsible for the development of various forms of acne. In the present study anti-acne gels were prepared using polymer carbopol 940 along with the hydroalcoholic extracts of plants Hibiscus Rosa-Sinesis Linn, Embelia Ribes and Allium Cepa and evaluated for their physicochemical properties, like pH, washability, extrudability, spreadability and viscosity. The formulations (PHF1-PHF6) were tested for the anti acne activity by well diffusion method against Propionibacterium acnes. Results showed that the gels were non-irritant, stable and posses anti-acne activity. The efficacy when tested with a standard was almost same to that of Clindamycin. This suggests that Hibiscus Rosa-Sinesis Linn, Embelia Ribes and Allium Cepa has potential against acne causing bacteria and hence they can be used in topical anti-acne preparations and may address the antibiotic resistance of the bacteria.

Keywords: Propionibacterium acnes, Hibiscus Rosa-Sinesis Linn, Embelia Ribes, Allium Cepa Carbopol 940, Anti-acne activity, Well diffusion method, Clindamycin.