The aim of the present investigation was to develop niosomal gel of itraconazole for the treatment of onychomycosis and to evaluate niosomal gel as a vehicle for dermal drug delivery.Itraconazole is a therapeutically important triazole-derivedantifungal agent that has been widely used in treatment of Onychomycosis which is the fungal infection of the toenails and fingernails. The nail plate may be abarrier that prevents effective topical treatment of ungual disorders. In this study, ITZ loaded niosome formulations and also gel forms of these formulations were prepared. The formulationswere characterized by drug entrapment efficiency, vesicle size and then optimized formulations were evaluated byin vitrodrug release. The in vitro skin permeation and nail permeation studies were also performed to examine the effect of formulations and experimental conditions on skin and nail surface. As a result, niosomes formulations of span40 and span 60 molar ratio of 7:3 can serve as efficient formulations for ungual application of ITZ. In conclusion , the results of the nail permeation studiessuggested that the optimized span40 niosomal gel formulationbetter permeation through the nail plate than the optimized span 60 formulation and hence can be an effective delivery system for the treatment of onychomycosis
