Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Boswellia sacra (B. sacra), the chemical name for frankincense essential oil, is utilized extensively to treat multiple kinds of cancers as well as skin disorders like acne, infections, and inflammations. The goal of this project is to develop a nanoemulgel using B. sacra oil to enhance its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects. B. sacra oil was extracted from oleoresin gum. METHODS: The extracted oil was obtained via the steam distillation process. Then, nanoemulsion formulations were prepared using the self-nanoemulsifying technique with Tween 80 and Span 80, incorporating the selected nanoemulsion formula. The resulting nanoemulsion was then incorporated with Carbopol hydrogel to produce nanoemulgel. RESULTS: The nanoemulsion showed a droplet size of 120.03 nm and a PDI below 0.3. The zeta potential for nanoemulgel was -35 mV at 0.4% Carbopol concentration, and the nanoemulgel formulation demonstrated pseudo-plastic behavior with no significant change in droplet size or PDI. The nanoemulgel has an antibacterial effect against various types of bacteria. The anticancer effect of B. sacra oil nanoemulgel was tested on different types of cancerous cells, which were: LX2, Hep-G2, Hela, MCF-7, and 3 T3, and the IC50 values were 186.2, 79.43, 186.2, 128.82, and 107.15 μg/mL, respectively. The IC(50) for COX-1 was 4.3558 μg/mL for B. sacra oil nanoemulgel and 1.3955 μg/mL for COX-2. CONCLUSION: The B. sacra oil nanoemulgel developed in this study has superior biological activities to those found in pure oil. Nanoemulgel is a promising delivery technique for improving several properties of pharmaceutical dosage forms.