Proniosomes as a Drug Carrier for Transdermal Delivery of Meloxicam

The current investigation aims to evaluate the potential of proniosomes as a carrier fortransdermal delivery of a potent non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, meloxicam. Meloxicamloadedproniosomes were prepared and characterized for entrapment efficiency, surfacemorphology and in-vitro permeation across excised rat skin from various proniosome gelformulations using Franz diffusion cells. Various non-ionic surfactants were used to achieveoptimum encapsulation efficiency. Niosomes formed from using Spans and Tweens exhibitedhigh encapsulation efficiency. The prepared proniosomes significantly improved drugpermeation and reduced the lag time (p< 0.05). Proniosomes prepared with Span 60 provided ahigher meloxicam flux across the rat skin than did those prepared with Tween 80.Testing of the anti-inflammatory effect of meloxicam proniosomal gel showed betterpharmacological activity when compared with the standard meloxicam gel. The results suggestthat proniosomes can act as promising carriers offer an alternative approach for transdermaldelivery of meloxicam.