EVALUATION OF TOPICAL PREPARATIONS OF MELOXICAM-A REVIEW

Abstract

Aim of the study: Meloxicam is a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory medicine that exhibits highly potent
analgesic, antipyretic activity indicated for pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis etc. Despite the
fact that this medicine possesses some COX-2 selectivity over COX-1, it is not considered as COX-2 inhibitor by
FDA. Compared with other NSAID, meloxicam is relatively safer, but unfortunately is associated with gastrointestinal
adverse effects. Currently commercial forms of meloxicam are tablets, oral suspension and injections. An
intriguing strategy to overcome these limitations is formulation of topical dosage forms for transdermal delivery.
Present study reports a detail review of data from clinical studies of different formulations of topical meloxicam,
methods of preparation and characterization of their structure, the influence of various parameters on the stability
and the market’s patented formulations by now. However, this attractive alternative is limited due to stratum
corneum, first layer of the skin which is the most difficult barrier for drug delivery. So, this study is also focused on
evaluation of different enhancers used for optimized penetration.
Materials and methods:
This review aims to collect the data of previously known preparations of meloxicam and examine their justification
in the treatment of acute pain and arthritis based on the scientific literature. As a material we have used scientific
papers giving the chemical and therapeutic properties of meloxicam and topical preparations, but also different
combinations of enhancers used in preparations. There is not systematic assessment in this review. Search strategy
included exploration of PubMed databases, by using key words related to meloxicam combined with terms
“transdermal”, “skin”, “stratum corneum”, “topical”, “gel”, “microemulsion”, “nanoparticles”.
Results and discussion
Recent studies have shown that different formulations of meloxicam in combination with penetration enhancers are
used in order to break stratum corneum and increase the permeation of meloxicam due to its zwitterionic nature.
Currently, many forms of drug carriers such as gels, creams and microemulsion based gels are subject of extensive
pre-clinical and clinical investigation.
Conclusion
The summarized results from literature review showed that meloxicam is more potent than other NSAID like
naproxen, piroxicam and ketoprofen. Although this medicine has relatively COX-2 selectivity, administration in
higher doses for long-term period is associated with gastro-intestinal adverse effects. An alternative strategy is
formulation of meloxicam loaded topical carriers which resulted with low plasma concentration of the drug and
decreased adverse effects. However, mechanism of skin delivery and safety of meloxicam still remains unclear.