FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF TOPICAL POLYHERBAL ANTIACNE GELS CONTAINING EMBELIA RIBES, ACACIA NILOTICA AND CHENOPODIUM ALBUM

Vivek Jain, Sunita Prajapati*, Anwar Iqbal Khan and Prabhat Kumar Jain

ABSTRACT

Anti-acne herbal formulations are used for the treatment of acne vulgaris with the added advantage of not producing adverse effects unlike synthetic drugs. Acne is an inflammatory skin disease that occurs due to blockages in polysebase and inflammation that are caused by bacteria. Topical and systemic antibiotics are always used for treatment of acne, but the gradual resistance to antibiotics can affect the success rate of acne cure. Medicinal plants play an important role in the development of potent therapeutic agents. Plant based drugs provide outstanding contribution to modern therapeutics as a source of many valuable secondary metabolites which serves as plant defense mechanisms against predator such as microorganism, insects and herbivores which have been proved to be potentially active compounds. There is a tremendous increase in search of antimicrobial plant extracts due to the fact that the resistance offered against antibiotic by the microorganism, in short the effective life span of any antibiotic is limited. Propionibacterium acnes are common pus-forming microbes responsible for the development of various forms of acne. In the present study anti-acne gels were prepared using polymer carbopol 940 along with the methanol extracts of plants Seeds of Embelia ribes, bark of Acacia nilotica and leaves of Chenopodium album and evaluated for their physicochemical properties, like pH, washability, extrudability, spreadability and viscosity. The formulations (PHG1-PHG6) were tested for the anti acne activity by well diffusion method against Propionibacterium acnes. Results showed that the gels were non-irritant, stable and posses anti-acne activity. The efficacy when tested with a standard was almost same to that of Clintop (Marketed gel). This suggests that seeds of Embelia ribes, bark of Acacia nilotica and leaves of Chenopodium album have potential against acne causing bacteria and hence they can be used in topical anti-acne preparations and may address the antibiotic resistance of the bacteria.

Keywords: Embelia ribes, Acacia nilotica, Chenopodium album, Propionibacterium acnes, Acne vulgaris, Carbopol, Physicochemical properties.