¹Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Airlangga, Nanizar Zaman Joenoes Building, Campus C UNAIR Mulyorejo, Surabaya, 60115, Indonesia
²Bachelor Program of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Airlangga, Nanizar Zaman Joenoes Building, Campus C UNAIR Mulyorejo, Surabaya, 60115, Indonesia
³Stem Cell Research and Development Center, Universitas Airlangga, Institute of Tropical Disease Building 2 Floor, Campus C UNAIR Mulyorejo, Surabaya, 60115, Indonesia DOI : 10.29228/jrp.184 A gel with mucoadhesive properties and a controlled release profile is a suitable dosage form for reverse micellar EGCG delivery. In this study, ĸ-Carrageenan and HPMC K100M were used as the gel components at a weight ratio of 1:1.5, respectively, for loading native and reverse micellar EGCG. The characteristics of the gel were determined based on pH, swelling index, disintegration time, hardness, and entrapment efficiency. The in vitro EGCG release rate was further determined for EGCG levels. Moreover, in vivo cervical penetration studies of rhodamine-labeled EGCG gels in mice at two and six hours after intravaginal administrations were conducted. The results showed that the pH and hardness characteristics of the gels for each formula did not differ significantly, while the gel-loaded reverse micellar EGCG had a higher swelling index than that of native EGCG gels. In addition, the rate of release and cervical penetration of rhodamine-labeled reverse micellar EGCG loaded in gels was higher than those of rhodamine-labeled native EGCG gels. Therefore, it can be concluded that loading reverse micelles EGCG into gels prepared with ĸ-Carrageenan and HPMC K100M successfully controlled the release rate and improved cervical penetration, thereby enabling its potential use in cervical cancer treatment. Keywords : Epigallocatechin gallate; cancer; hydroxypropyl methylcellulose; κ-carrageenan; reverse micelle; cervical penetration