Physical Properties, Release and Penetration Tests of Membrane-Type Diclofenac Sodium Patch Using Nanostructured Lipid Carrier as Reservoir

Diclofenac sodium, a Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory medicine, is efficacious in treating osteoarthritis. However, it might cause adverse gastrointestinal symptoms and may lead to liver metabolic complications when used orally. Hence, the development of an efficacious treatment, specifically the diclofenac sodium patch with a membrane, is imperative. The goal of this research was to identify the optimal formulation for a membrane-type diclofenac sodium patch with Nanostructured Lipid Carrier (NLC) as a reservoir, using a solvent casting technique with HPMC 606 as the rate-controlling membrane. Diclofenac sodium patch with NLC Formula 1 was determined to be the most effective formula, as it showed good physical attributes such as drug content and drug homogeneity above 85%, spherical particles, a higher release flux of 12.246 ± 0.60 µg/cm²/min^1/2 compared to Formula 2 and Formula 3, and the release kinetics in all formula followed the Higuchi model. Using the most optimal patch formula, a penetration test showed a higher flux penetration of 0.329 ± 0.01 µg/cm²/min compared to the comparison, which involved a diclofenac sodium patch with physical mixture. The research suggested that diclofenac sodium patch with NLC holds significant potential as a transdermal drug delivery system.