In Situ Thermoreversible Gelling System of Riboflavin and Aminolevulinic Acid for Treatment of Keratoconus-affected Corneas of Mice

The present study deals with the development of novel thermoreversible gel containing riboflavin and aminolevulinic acid for the treatment of keratoconus. The gel was prepared using Pluronic and sodium alginate. The formulated system was evaluated for various physico chemical parameters. The pH was found between 6.6 to 6.8 while gelation temperature was between 35 to 38 degrees C. All formulations were found isotonic and non-hemolytic in nature. The F5 formulation was found to be optimized considering all evaluation parameters. F5 formulation showed release of 98.21 and 99.2 % for riboflavin and aminolevulinic acid, respectively, within 8 h. The effect of formulation on keratoconus-affected mice showed that matrix can be produced after stimulation of human keratoconus cells (HKC) and the increased thickness can be the result of the increased number of cells. These results conclude the potential application of a thermoreversible gel containing riboflavin and aminolevulinic acid in keratoconus treatment.