Formulation and evaluation of apigenin-loaded microsponge gel for effective angioedema therapy

The objective of this project was to create a microsponge gel loaded with apigenin to improve medication release to treat angioedema. The quasi-emulsion solvent diffusion approach was effectively used to prepare a microsponge for topical apigenin administration. The effect of ethylcellulose and ethanol was optimized by a 3 2 -factorial design. The optimized microsponges were dispersed into a gel and further evaluated for mean particle size, drug content, and entrapment efficiency. The in vitro drug release of gel formulations was evaluated by a Franz diffusion cell and the kinetic release of optimized formulation was analyzed. Compatibility was confirmed by the drug’s & excipient’s FTIR (Fourier Transform Infra Red). The apigenin-loaded microsponges were found to be uniform, spherical in form, and naturally porous. The microsponges formulation possessed particle size, drug content, and entrapment efficiency of 20.320 ± 2.767 µm – 37.259 ± 1.790 µm, 72.881 ± 1.420 % - 95.784 ± 1.927 % and 90.421 ± 0.192 % - 92.711 ± 0.141 % respectively. The maximum amount of medication release for A7 (formulation 7), A1 (formulation 1), and A4 (formulation 4) were found to be 77.983 ± 0.287 %, 74.940 ± 0.254 %, and 73.736 ± 0.155 % in 8 h. The drug release profile of optimized batch A7 was analyzed using multiple kinetic models. The findings indicated that the drug release from the gel formulation adheres to the Korsmeyer-Peppas model. The microsponge of apigenin was successfully prepared, evaluated, and loaded into a gel.