DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ANTI-ACNE GEL CONTAINING EXTRACT OF PIPER BETLE L.
Roli Shukla*
ABSTRACT
Plants and plant-based medicaments are the basis of many of the modern pharmaceuticals we use today for our various diseases. 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. Piper betle L. extract showed that has antibacterial activity against acne- causing bacteria. In the present study anti-acne gels were prepared using polymer carbopol 940 along with the hydroalcoholic extracts of plants P. betle and evaluated for their physicochemical properties, like pH, washability, extrudability, spreadability and viscosity. The extract and formulations were tested for the anti-acne activity by well diffusion method against Propionibacterium acnes to find the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Results showed that the gels were non-irritant, stable and posses anti-acne activity. The efficacy of gel when tested with an extract was almost double to that of extract. This suggests that P. betle has 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.
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