Enhanced acyclovir delivery using w/o type microemulsion: preclinical assessment of antiviral activity using murine model of zosteriform cutaneous HSV-1 infection

Abstract

The present study was aimed to develop and evaluate a microemulsion-based dermal drug delivery of an antiviral agent, acyclovir. A water-in-oil microemulsion was prepared using isopropyl myristate, Tween 20, Span 20, water and dimethylsulphoxide. It was characterized for drug content, stability, globule size, pH, viscosity and ex vivo permeation through mice skin. In vivo antiviral efficacy of optimized formulation was assessed in female Balb/c mice against herpes simplex virus-I (HSV-I)-induced infection. It was observed that optimized formulation when applied 24-h post-infection could completely inhibit the development of cutaneous herpetic lesions vis-à-vis marketed cream.

Keywords:

• Acyclovir
• HSV-1
• microemulsion
• dermal

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the gift sample of ACV supplied by Arochem Industries (Mumbai, India).

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.