Development and Assessment of <i>In-Situ</i> Gel Formulation for Ocular Pain and Inflammation

Abstract

The present study aimed to develop and assess an in situ gel formulation of Nepafenac for treating ocular pain and inflammation. The in situ gel was created using different polymer concentrations, including Carbopol-940 (0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% and 0.5% w/v), HPMC50 (1.5% w/v), HPMC15 (0.6% w/v) and HPMC5 (0.5%), as a pH-sensitive gelling system to enhance contact time, achieve controlled release, reduce administration frequency, and improve therapeutic efficacy of the drug. The visual appearance, clarity, melting point, pH, durg content, and in-situ gelation time were evaluated for the prepared in situ gels. Viscosity and solubility studies were also conducted. Results indicated that the polymeric in situ gels had transparent clear appearance and satisfactory gelling capacity. All optimized formulations had a drug content ranging between 94.29–98.68%.The in situ gel formulations demonstrated pseudoplastic behavior, were light yellow therapeutically effective, stable, released the drug sustainedly over eight hours.