The Faculty of Pharmacy discussed the Master’s Degree thesis, Formulation and Evaluation of Silymarin Solid Dispersion as Topical Gel ” by Bushra Malik Jassim and the supervisor, Assist. Prof. Eman B.H. Al-khedairy in the Pharmaceutics Department.in 25/5/2023 Silymarin is a herbal medicine extracted from the plant Silybum marianum. It has many potent pharmacological activities among which are antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and possible wound-healing properties. It belongs to BCS class II thus the drug is permeable but it is practically water-insoluble with poor dissolution.The present study aimed to enhance the solubility and dissolution rate of silymarin using the solid dispersion technique by using different hydrophilic carriers by different methods. The effects of different factors on solubility and dissolution rate of solid dispersion were studied Solid dispersions were characterized for their, percentage yield, drug content, saturation solubility, and in-vitro dissolution study and crystallinity in comparison with pure drug. The compatibility of silymarin with the selected carrier was also investigated .The results of this study revealed that, the best solid dispersion formula was obtained by using nicotinamide in a ratio of 1:3 silymarin: nicotinamide by solvent evaporation method with 25-fold increment in solubility and complete drug release within 20min as the drug was converted to amorphous form which was also compatible with nicotinamide. The optimum gel formula was that prepared by using 2% w/w hyaluronic acid as a gel base (containing 1% silymarin) with acceptable physical properties, fast and complete wound healing in vivo within 14 days. Finally, it can be concluded that the solubility and dissolution rate of silymarin were efficiently improved by solid dispersion technique to be incorporated in gel base for potentially powerful wound healing effect
