Shidhaye Supriya Shrihari1*, Tank Shivali Hargovind2, Phatak Kshitija Milind3
Onychomycosis is a fungal infection of the fingernails or toenails that causes discoloration, thickening, and separation from the nail bed. It affects the general population but is more common in older adults, children and immunocompromised patients. The present study was aimed towards designing and formulating medicated nail lacquer of recently approved drug Luliconazole to control onychomycosis condition. The work involved combination of antifungal agent luliconazole with a well-established anti- inflammatory agent methyl salicylate. Simple mixing method was used for preparing nail lacquer solution. Polymers such as ethyl cellulose and Eudragit RS100 were used to sustain the drug release upto 72 hours, thereby reducing the frequency of application to twice a week. The infection is associated with pain and inflammation around the nail along with foul smell. Hence addition of methyl salicylate in the formulation will help to mask the foul odour along with anti-inflammatory effect to improve the patient compliance and acceptability. Also, it will act as a permeation enhancer there by will increase drug permeation across the nail bed. The formulation was optimized on the basis of drying time, non-volatile content, drug content, drug diffusion across artificial membrane and hooves membrane and antimicrobial studies. The optimized formulation showed a drug release of 94% in 72 hours, optimum viscosity of about 152cP and drying time of 83 seconds. Thus, the nail lacquer of luliconazole was successfully developed which can serve as a promising alternative to ameliorate patient compliance.
