Stratum corneum lipids liposomes for the topical delivery of 5-aminolevulinic acid in photodynamic therapy of skin cancer: preparation and in vitro permeation study

BACKGROUND: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) using 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is a skin cancer therapy that still has limitations due to the low penetration of this drug into the skin. We have proposed in this work a delivery system for 5-ALA based on liposomes having lipid composition similar to the mammalian stratum corneum (SCLLs) in order to optimize its skin delivery in Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) of skin cancers. METHODS: SCLLs were obtained by reverse phase evaporation technique and size distribution of the vesicles was determinated by photon correlation spectroscopy. In vitro permeation profile was characterized using hairless mouse skin mounted in modified Franz diffusion cell. RESULTS: Size exclusion chromatography on gel filtration confirmed vesicle formation. SCLLs obtained by presented a degree of encapsulation of 5-ALA around 5.7%. A distribution of vesicle size centering at around 500 nm and 400 nm respectively for SCLLs and SCLLs containing 5-ALA was found. In vitro 5-ALA permeation study showed that SCLLs preparations presented higher skin retention significantly (p < 0.05) on the epidermis without SC + dermis, with a decreasing of skin permeation compared to aqueous solution. CONCLUSIONS: The in vitro delivery performance provided by SCLLs lead to consider this systems adequate for the 5-ALA-PDT of skin cancer, since SCLLs have delivered 5-ALA to the target skin layers (viable epidermis + dermis) to be treated by topical PDT of skin cancer

Physicochemical characterization of surfactant incorporating vesicles that incorporate colloidal magnetite

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Drug administration through the transdermal route has optimized for the comfort of patients and easy application. However, the main limitation of transdermal drug delivery is the impermeability of the human skin. Recent advances on improvement of drug transport through the skin include elastic liposomes as a penetration enhancer. Entrapment of ferrofluids in the core of liposomes produces magnetoliposomes, which can be driven by a high-gradient magnetic field. The association of both strategies could enhance the penetration of elastic liposomes. This work relies on the preparation and characterization of elastic-magnetic liposomes designed to permeate through the skin. The incorporation of colloidal magnetite and the elastic component, octaethylene glycol laurate (PEG-8-L), in the structure of liposomes were evaluated. The capability of the elastic magnetoliposomes for permeation through nanopores of two stacked polycarbonate membranes was compared to conventional and elastic liposomes. Magnetite incorporation was dependent on vesicle diameter and size distribution as well as PEG-8-L incorporation into liposomes, demonstrating the capability of the fluid bilayer to accommodate the surfactant without disruption. On the contrary, PEG-8-L incorporation into magnetoliposomes promoted a decrease of average diameter and a lower PEG-8-L incorporation percentage as a result of reduction on the fluidity of the bilayer imparted by iron incorporation into the lipid structure. Elastic liposomes demonstrated an enhancement of the deformation capability, as compared with conventional liposomes. Conventional and elastic magnetoliposomes presented a reduced capability for deformation and permeation.2314753Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)FAPESP [02/12637-9]CNPq [150044/2004-6

Development, characterization, and skin delivery studies of related ultradeformable vesicles: transfersomes, ethosomes, and transethosomes

Andreia Ascenso,1 Sara Raposo,1 C&aacute;tia Batista,2 Pedro Cardoso,2 Tiago Mendes,2 Fab&iacute;ola Garcia Pra&ccedil;a,3 Maria Vit&oacute;ria Lopes Badra Bentley,3 Sandra Sim&otilde;es1 1Instituto de Investiga&ccedil;&atilde;o do Medicamento (iMed.ULisboa), 2Faculdade de Farm&aacute;cia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal; 3Faculdade de Ci&ecirc;ncias Farmac&ecirc;uticas de Ribeir&atilde;o Preto, Universidade de S&atilde;o Paulo, Monte Alegre, Ribeir&atilde;o Preto, S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil Abstract: Ultradeformable vesicles (UDV) have recently become a promising tool for the development of improved and innovative dermal and transdermal therapies. The aim of this work was to study three related UDV: transfersomes, ethosomes, and transethosomes for the incorporation of actives of distinct polarities, namely, vitamin E and caffeine, and to evaluate the effect of the carrier on skin permeation and penetration. These actives were incorporated in UDV formulations further characterized for vesicles imaging by transmission electron microscopy; mean vesicle size and polydispersity index by photon correlation spectroscopy; zeta potential by laser-Doppler anemometry; deformability by pressure-driven transport; and incorporation efficiency (IE) after actives quantification by high-performance liquid chromatography. Topical delivery studies were performed in order to compare UDV formulations regarding the release, skin permeation, and penetration profiles. All UDV formulations showed size values within the expected range, except transethosomes prepared by &ldquo;transfersomal method&rdquo;, for which size was smaller than 100 nm in contrast to that obtained for vesicles prepared by &ldquo;ethosomal method&rdquo;. Zeta potential was negative and higher for formulations containing sodium cholate. The IE was much higher for vitamin E- than caffeine-loaded UDV as expected. For flux measurements, the following order was obtained: transethosomes (TE) &gt; ethosomes (E) &ge; transfersomes (T). This result was consistent with the release and skin penetration profiles for Vitamin E-loaded UDV. However, the releasing results were totally the opposite for caffeine-loaded UDV, which might be explained by the solubility and thermodynamic activity of this active in each formulation instead of the UDV deformability attending to the higher non-incorporated fraction of caffeine. Anyway, a high skin penetration and permeation for all caffeine-loaded UDV were obtained. Transethosomes were more deformable than ethosomes and transfersomes due to the presence of both ethanol and surfactant in their composition. All these UDV were suitable for a deeper skin penetration, especially transethosomes. Keywords: lipid vesicles, topical delivery studies, vitamin E, caffein