FORMULATION AND IN-VITRO EVALUATION OF A POLYHERBAL TOPICAL GEL CONTAINING AZADIRACHTA INDICA, OCIMUM SANCTUM AND PIPER BETLE EXTRACTS FOR ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY

Background: Superficial fungal infections are common, recurrent and increasingly associated with prolonged therapy and reduced response to conventional antifungal treatment. Herbal topical gels may be explored as preliminary formulation platforms for localized antifungal screening. Objective: To formulate and evaluate a polyherbal topical gel containing hydroethanolic leaf extracts of Azadirachta indica, Ocimum sanctum and Piper betle for in-vitro antifungal activity. Materials and Methods: Authenticated leaves were extracted using 70:30 ethanol:water by maceration. A Carbopol 934 gel containing equal extract ratio of neem:tulsi:Piper betle at 2:2:2% w/w was prepared using propylene glycol, methyl paraben, propyl paraben, triethanolamine and distilled water. The gel was evaluated for physicochemical properties, extract content uniformity, phytochemical standardization, antifungal activity against Candida albicans ATCC 10231 and Aspergillus niger ATCC 16404, MIC/MFC and short-term stability. Fluconazole solution 25 microgram/mL was used as standard antifungal comparator. Results: Extract yields were 17.0%, 14.4% and 13.6% for neem, tulsi and Piper betle, respectively. Total phenolic content ranged from 42.6 +/- 1.8 to 76.4 +/- 2.3 mg GAE/g extract and total flavonoid content from 28.7 +/- 1.2 to 52.8 +/- 1.6 mg QE/g extract. The optimized gel showed pH 6.69 +/- 0.035, viscosity 4823 +/- 92.5 cP, spreadability 31.58 +/- 0.76 g.cm/sec and extract content 98.5 +/- 0.70%. Against C. albicans and A. niger, the polyherbal gel produced inhibition zones of 21.33 +/- 0.58 mm and 19.33 +/- 0.58 mm, respectively. These values were significantly higher than individual extracts and base gel control (p < 0.05), but lower than fluconazole (24.33 +/- 0.58 mm and 22.33 +/- 0.58 mm). MIC values of the polyherbal gel were 62.5 mg/mL for C. albicans and 125 mg/mL for A. niger. Conclusion: The developed polyherbal gel showed acceptable topical formulation characteristics and measurable preliminary in-vitro antifungal activity. However, true synergism, clinical efficacy and therapeutic equivalence with fluconazole cannot be concluded without checkerboard/FICI, time-kill, dermatophyte-specific, safety and clinical studies.