Formulation, Development and Characterization of Ethosomes of Atorvastatin

Objectives: The main objective of the present investigation was to develop transdermal delivery of Atorvastatin, a HMG-CoAreductase inhibitor used in the treatment of congestive heart failure (CHF). Atorvastatin was formulated into ethosomal formulation to reduce the first pass metabolism and increase the systemic bioavailability. Methods: Cold method was used to formulate ethosomes by using suitable phosphatidylcholine and permeation enhancer. All the formulation were characterized for vesicle morphology, particle size and entrapment efficiency by Transmission Electron Microscopy, Differential light scattering and centrifugation respectively. The effect of different formulation variable on skin permeation of Atorvastatin was studied via synthetic semipermeable membrane or skin of new born mice by using diffusion cell. Results: The optimized ethosomal formulation showed enhanced drug delivery with no first pass metabolism, entrapment efficiency was found to be 98.65 ± 0.63% and showed drug release 98.13 ± 3.67% for ethosomal formulation across rat skin as compared to 52.37 ± 3.62% for hydroethanolic solution. Conclusion: Finally it was concluded from the study that, ethosomes can increase the transdermal flux, prolong the release and present an attractive route for sustained delivery of Atorvastatin.