Lipid nanocarrier-based bigel of Piper betel oil for analgesic and anti-inflammatory applications.

Present study reports analgesic and anti-inflammatory potential of Piper betel (L.) leaf oil loaded lipid nanocarrier (BLNs)-embedded bigel. BLNs were developed by solvent evaporation technique and were characterised by FESEM, Cryo-TEM, mean diameter, zeta potential, loading efficiency, etc. BLNs embedded bigel (BLNs-G) was evaluated for analgesic and anti-inflammatory efficacy in rat model. Data showed spherical BLNs with intact lamellarity, 138.2 ± 1.08 nm mean diameter, 0.182 PDI, -46.6 ± 0.61 mV zeta potential, 76.2 ± 2.1% (w/w) loading efficiency and a sustained release in vitro. BLNs-G was homogenous with satisfied viscosity (40 734 ± 1.7 cps), spreadability (8.3 ± 1.5 g.cm sec^-1), extrudability (91.33 ± 1.3% w/w) along with a sustained permeation ex vivo. Significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory action were depicted by BLNs-G (1% w/w) in rat model (p ˂ 0.05) within 30 minutes post topical application. In silico docking study revealed high affinity of major phytoactive components with key analgesic/inflammatory mediators. Further pre-clinical investigations are warranted for futuristic clinical application of BLNs-G.