Development, characterization, in vitro and ex vivo evaluation of antiemetic transdermal patches of ondansetron hydrochloride and dexamethasone

The idea of delivering drugs through skin is old, as the use is reported back in 16th century B.C. The husk of the castor oil plant in water was placed on an aching head. Today the transdermal drug delivery is well accepted for delivering drugs to the systemic circulation. The aim of this study was to design a compound transdermal patches containing ondansetrone HCL and dexamethasone for the treatment of nausea and vomiting in case of chemotherapy and regular symptom of nausea and vomiting. In the present work, an attempt has been made to develop a matrix-type transdermal therapeutic system comprising of Ondansetron-HCl and Dexamethasone in different ratios of hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymeric combinations with 15% w/v plasticizer and 5% w/v penetration enhancer were mixed with the polymer solution polymer were using solvent evaporation technique. The patches were further subjected to various characterization studies for prepared transdermal patches along with the thickness, tensile strength, folding endurance, % elongation, % moisture content, % moisture uptake, % drug content, In vitro drug permeation study on Franz diffusion cells. Obtained results showed no physical-chemical incompatibility between drugs and polymers. On the basis of results obtained from, tensile strength (18±0.16), folding endurance (126 ± 1 to 68 ± 2), % moisture content (2.9±0.4), % moisture uptake, % drug content (92.41 to 98.9 %), TPEC (Transdermal Patches of Ethyl Cellulose) was selected as optimized formulation. In vitro release of the selected batch, TPEC-1 followed by zero-order and formulation showed 62.69 % drug diffusion within 10 hours. Conclusively, the patches were considered to deliver drugs safely through the skin for a longer period often.