Microsponge based gel as a simple and valuable strategy for formulating and releasing Tazarotene in a controlled manner

This study aims to deliver Tazarotene (TZR) in a controlled manner to reduce adverse effects in the form of a microsponge-based gel. It adopts the methodology of a similar study by the undersigned authors with respect to the drug Clindamycin. Under both studies, the methodology used is emulsion solvent diffusion. Accordingly, we altered the concentrations of polymer and emulsifier to generate four formulations of TZR microsponges. Additionally, we used two types of emulsifiers and two types of solvents to develop two further microsponge formulations. We then studied the physical properties of each formulation, as well as drug-polymer interactions. Echoing findings from our prior study of Clindamycin, we found that microsponge formulations coded by T1 and T3 had superior production yield and entrapment efficiency, and their particle size was suitable for dermal application. As in the prior Clindamycin study, each of the T1 and T3 microsponge formulations were incorporated into a Carbopol gel and evaluated in vitro. The optimal formulation was found to be the microsponge formulation gel T8, which released 87.63% of TZR over 12 h. No significant interactions between the drug and excipients were found through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry.