Development and Validation of Periodontal in Situ Gel of Articaine : Formulation,Evaluation and Validation of in situ gel of Articaine as a drug delivery system for Periodontal Anesthesia

Articaine hydrochloride, a water soluble local anesthetic, is administered by block/infiltration anesthesia during the treatment of periodontitis. The pain, associated with injection of local anesthetics, can be overcome by the use of in situ gel forming system of local anesthetics. The system is a low viscosity fluid at room temperature and rigid elastic gel at body temperature, undergoing in situ sol gel transition.The present work describes the formulation, characterization and preliminary drug release studies of muco-adhesive formulations containing articaine, polaxomer 407 as the thermoreversible gelling agent in combination with hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) and Carbopol 934P, as a muco-adhesive agent. Each formulation was characterized in terms of gelling temperature, viscosity, muco-adhesive force, spreadability, drug release.The gelling temperature varied with the polymer concentration and the presence of drug.The in vitro and ex vitro permeation studies indicated the sustained drug release for a 7-h period.Prospective Process Validation was also performed on formulations.The developed system is a viable alternative for the conventional injectable dosage form.