Enhanced transdermal delivery of luteolin via non-ionic surfactant-based vesicle: quality evaluation and anti-arthritic assessment

Luteolin (LUT) is a promising molecule with potential anti-arthritic activity. This investigation presents formulation and evaluation of niosomal transgel for enhanced transdermal delivery of LUT. Different non-ionic surfactants and vesicle compositions were employed for preparation of niosomes. The vesicle size analysis showed that all vesicles were in the range from 534.58 to 810.22 nm which favoured efficient transdermal delivery. The entrapment of LUT in vesicle was found to be higher in all surfactant. The developed formulation was proved significantly superior in terms of amount of drug permeation with an enhancement ratio of 2.66 when compared to a control formulation. The in vivo bioactivity studies revealed that the prepared niotransgel formulation of LUT was able to provide good anti-arthritic activity and the results were comparable to standard (diclofenac gel for anti-arthritic and analgesic). Finally, the results were confirmed through radiological analysis which proved that the prepared niotransgel was effectively able to treat arthritis and results were comparable with the standard formulation.