Influence of Orange Oil on Skin Permeability, Dermatokinetics, and In Vivo Anti-inflammatory Properties of Lornoxicam-loaded Niosomal Gel.

Introduction: Lornoxicam is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug belonging to the oxicam class. This study aimed to develop a niosomal gel containing orange oil for improving the anti-inflam-matory effect of lornoxicam.

Methods: Lornoxicam-loaded niosomes (LOR-OR-NIO) were prepared using film hydration followed by the sonication method. Particle size, entrapment efficiency, and ex vivo permeation were all consid-ered during the optimization of the niosomal gels by employing the Box-Behnken design. Dermatoki-netics and in vivo anti-inflammatory studies were performed using male Wistar rats.

Results: The particle size, entrapment efficiency, and skin permeation ability of the optimized LOR-OR-NIO formulation were found to be 354.3 nm, 83.56 %, and 105.63 μg/cm2, respectively. The ex vivo studies indicated that the optimized LOR-OR-NIO gel demonstrated superior drug penetration properties (105.43 μg/cm2) compared to both the LOR-NIO gel (69.23 μg/cm2) and the LOR gel (35.34 μg/cm2). The activation energy values of LOR gel, LOR-NIO gel, and LOR-OR-NIO gel were 2.74 Kcal mol-1, 1.93 Kcal mol-1, and 0.94 Kcal mol-1, respectively.

Discussion: The lower activation energy of the LOR-OR-NIO gel contributed to more skin penetration of the drug. Dermatokinetics investigation demonstrated that the LOR-OR-NIO gel had superior pene-tration in the epidermal and dermal areas compared to the LOR gel. In vivo anti-inflammatory studies indicated that the LOR-OR-NIO gel exhibited greater edema inhibition compared to both the LOR-NIO gel and LOR gel. These results demonstrated the enhanced anti-inflammatory activity of the LOR-OR-NIO gel.

Conclusion: The study concluded that orange oil enhanced skin permeability and influenced the derma-tokinetics of the LOR-OR-NIO gel, leading to an improvement in in vivo anti-inflammatory properties..