Lipid-based nanocarriers to enhance skin permeation and antioxidant activity of Centella asiatica extract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of different formulations, including solution, gel, liposome and niosome for in vitro skin permeation and antioxidant activity of Centella asiatica (CA) extract. The liposomes and niosomes loaded with CA were characterized to observe the physicochemical properties i.e., particle size, zeta potential, percentage of entrapment efficiency (%EE) and percentage of loading efficiency (%LE). In vitro skin permeation studies revealed that liposome formulations had a superior enhancing effect on skin permeation compared to niosome, gel and solution formulation. Upon applied niosome formulations for the delivery of CA extract at 24 hours (h), the antioxidant activity was higher than liposome, gel and solution formulation, as evidenced by the increased in percent inhibition using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. However, there was no significant difference in antioxidant activity between niosome and liposome formulations. Accordingly, both the liposome and noisome formulations are promising approaches for transdermal delivery of CA extract for promoting successful antioxidant activity

Lipid-based nanocarriers to enhance skin permeation and antioxidant activity of Centella asiatica extract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of different formulations, including solution, gel, liposome and niosome for in vitro skin permeation and antioxidant activity of Centella asiatica (CA) extract. The liposomes and niosomes loaded with CA were characterized to observe the physicochemical properties i.e., particle size, zeta potential, percentage of entrapment efficiency (%EE) and percentage of loading efficiency (%LE). In vitro skin permeation studies revealed that liposome formulations had a superior enhancing effect on skin permeation compared to niosome, gel and solution formulation. Upon applied niosome formulations for the delivery of CA extract at 24 hours (h), the antioxidant activity was higher than liposome, gel and solution formulation, as evidenced by the increased in percent inhibition using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. However, there was no significant difference in antioxidant activity between niosome and liposome formulations. Accordingly, both the liposome and noisome formulations are promising approaches for transdermal delivery of CA extract for promoting successful antioxidant activity

Transdermal delivery of fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextrans using the combination of microneedles and low-frequency sonophoresis

AbstractThis study aimed to evaluate the patient-friendly methods that are used in the delivery of hydrophilic macromolecules into deep skin layers, in particular, the combination of microneedles patch (MNs patch) and low-frequency sonophoresis (SN). The hydrophilic macromolecule drug fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextrans (FD-4: MW 4.4 kDa) was used as the model drug in our experimental design. In this study, excised porcine skin was used to investigate and optimize the key parameters that determine effective MNs- and SN-facilitated FD-4 delivery. In vitro skin permeation experiments revealed that the combination of MNs patch with SN had a superior enhancing effect of skin permeation for FD-4 compared to MNs alone, SN alone or untreated skin, respectively. The optimal parameters for the combination of MNs and SN included the following: 10 N insertion force of MNs, 4 W/cm2 SN intensity, 6 mm radiation diameter of the SN probe, 2 min application time, and the continuous mode duty cycle of SN. In addition, vertical sections of skin, clearly observed under a confocal microscope, confirmed that the combination of MNs and SN enhanced permeation of FD-4 into the deep skin layers. These studies suggest that the combination of MNs and SN techniques could have great potential in the delivery of hydrophilic macromolecules into deep skin

Facile, sensitive and reagent-saving smartphone-based digital image colorimetric assay of captopril tablets enabled by long-pathlength RGB acquisition

A new assay of captopril (CTP) tablets was developed based on digital image colorimetry using Ellman’s reagent. For the first time, a facile technique of increasing the analytical path was applied in this work to enhance the sensitivity. For this purpose, the reaction solutions were photographed using a smartphone while they were contained in two 1-cm pathlength cuvettes which were placed side by side. The Red-Green-Blue (RGB) in term of [B/(R+G+B)] was used to plot a standard curve. Compared to using a single cuvette, double cuvettes resulted in more precise analytical signals and better linearity (r2 of 0.9992). Additionally, CTP could be analyzed at low concentrations (2.5–25 µM) with LOD of 0.70 µM and LOQ of 2.13 µM, thus lowering the reagent consumption. The assay was proven to be valid, and it was greener, faster, and more affordable than the pharmacopeial chromatographic method, thereby suitable for pharmaceutical quality control