Design Development and Evaluation of Topical Polyherbal Formulations for Bacterial Skin Diseases

Abstract

The present research provides a novel polyherbal gel formulation useful as a medicine for the treatment of bacterial skin diseases, the composition consisting four different plants in the form of extracts. The plant extracts being selected Azadirachta indica Linn leaves, Vitex nigundo Linn leaves, Argemone Mexicana Linn leaves and Trigonella foenum graecum Linn seeds ethanol extracts each 4%., having anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial or mixture thereof, a base containing aqueous gel containing carbopol 934 ranging between 1 to 2 wt. %, propylene glycol ranging between 2 to 4 wt. %, preservatives ranging between 0.05-0.5% and a humecant ranging between 1-4 wt. %, and adding water to make 100 % wt. Prepared single herb gel and polyherbal gel formulations comprising ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Azadirachta indica Linn leaves, Vitex nigundo Linn leaves, Argemone Mexicana Linn leaves and Trigonella foenum graecum Linn seeds and also provided the methods of preparation and formula. From the anti-inflammatory study results, it was concluded that the optimized polyherbal gel formulation shows significant anti-inflammatory activity. Clinical study was conducted on the thirty numbers of patients (volunteers) to access the safety and efficacy of prepared polyherbal formulation for the treatment of bacterial skin diseases. It was well tolerated and no one patient reported any side effects or adverse effect. This research work provides a novel treatment for bacterial skin diseases like cellulitis and eczema in patients by topical application of therapeutically effective amount of a polyherbal gel formulation. Polyherbal gel formulations showed highly significant improvement in reducing the symptoms and treating the condition in subjects. newline