Development and Characterization of Hydrogel System Bearing Minoxidil Loaded β–Cyclodextrin based Nanosponges for Topical Delivery

Minoxidil loaded nanosponges (NS) based hydrogel system was developed for topical application on to the scalp in order to avoid the disadvantages associated with the Minoxidil topical solution. The objective of this work was to formulate, characterize and evaluate hydrogel system bearing minoxidil loaded nanosponges. Nanosponges were developed using solvent evaporation method by reacting β-cyclodextrin with a cross linking agent such as diphenyl carbonate that forms a porous nano-size structure. The drug was loaded in the nanosponges using solid dispersion method. The NS and NS minoxidil complexes were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and scanning electron microscope. The drug-loaded nanosponges were incorporated in the hydrogel formulations and were evaluated for appearance, homogeneity, gelling, pH, viscosity, spreadability and drug content. The in-vitro drug release was carried out in phosphate buffer pH 6.8 for the drug loaded nanosponges hydrogel formulations HF1, HF2, HF3 and HF4 and the drug release was found to be 68.5±72, 61.27±0.83,56.36±0.55 and 52.18±1.7 respectively, over a period of 6 hours.