FORMULATION, EVALUATION AND IN-VITRO DRUG RELEASE STUDIES OF POLYHERBAL-LOADED CHITOSAN SCAFFOLD FOR TREATING AND MANAGING FROSTBITE CONDITIONS

Abstract

Frostbite is a cold injury that occurs at temperatures below 0°C, leading to the formation of ice crystals within and between cells, which causes considerable damage to the endothelium. This research focused on the development and characterization of a polyherbal scaffold using chitosan with the incorporation of genistein and capsaicin, primarily for topical application in frostbite conditions.  A polyherbal scaffold formulation was developed using the freeze-drying technique and evaluated for its linearity, FT-IR, tensile strength, porosity,  water absorption test, SEM analysis and In-vitro drug release studies. FTIR analysis indicated that there were no chemical interactions between the polymer, drugs and the formulation. The tensile strength reveals that the average stress range is 0.015 ± 0.004 N/m2 and the average strain range is 34.7 ± 11.50. The porosity was found to be 78.8% and the water absorption test was found to be 33.04%. The SEM analyses revealed that the formulated polyherbal scaffold is Porous. The In-vitro drug release studies reveal that capsaicin shows a faster release compared to genistein in all time intervals. The results indicate that this polyherbal chitosan-loaded scaffold shows potential for effectively treating frostbite through its ability to reduce inflammation, enhance wound healing and promote tissue regeneration. The incorporation of genistein and capsaicin in the chitosan-loaded scaffold provides a complementary strategy for frostbite-affected areas.