Film forming gel for treatment of oral mucositis: In vitro studies

Oral mucositis is one of the main complications of non-surgical cancer treatments. The present work focuses on the treatment or reduction of oral mucositis by using combined mechanism by formation of physical barrier by forming a film to cover the oral ulcer and use of therapeutic agents, such as diclofenac sodium and ofloxacin separately or in combination. The selected polymers for film forming gel formulations are Hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC), hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), sodium carboxymethylcellulose (Na CMC) and carbopol 940 (CP). The residence time in simulated buccal saliva was between 5.5 to 6 hours for all formulations. The in-vitro release data of the investigated drugs from the prepared formulations followed zero-order and diffusion mechanism. The permeability studies data revealed that diclofenac sodium showed higher permeability from Na CMC/CP (2:0.3%) than from HPMC 4%, while in case of ofloxacin higher permeability was shown from Na CMC/CP (2:0.3%) than from HPMC/HPC (2:3%). The permeation parameters for diclofenac sodium and ofloxacin in their combination do not depend on either viscosity or pH, they depend on the type of polymers used. Keywords: Mucositis; Film-forming gel; Rheology; In vitro studies.