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Directed Assembly of Elastin-like Proteins into defined Supramolecular Structures and Cargo Encapsulation In Vitro
Published on: April 8, 2020
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Localized Epidermal Drug Delivery Induced by Supramolecular Solvent Structuring.
F Benaouda1, S A Jones1, G P Martin1
1Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, School of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London , Franklin-Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NH, U.K.
Molecular Pharmaceutics
|November 24, 2015
Summary
Manipulating solvent structures in skin with propylene glycol (PG) significantly increased topical drug delivery. High PG concentrations promoted epidermal drug accumulation, enhancing therapeutic potential.
Area of Science:
- Dermatology
- Materials Science
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Preferential epidermal drug localization is desirable for topical treatments but challenging to achieve.
- Understanding solvent behavior within skin layers is crucial for optimizing drug delivery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if manipulating solvent supramolecular structuring in skin can enhance epidermal drug residence.
- To assess the impact of propylene glycol (PG) concentration on diclofenac deposition in human skin.
Main Methods:
- Skin deposition studies using a model drug, diclofenac.
- Application of diclofenac with varying concentrations of propylene glycol (PG).
- Analysis of drug distribution using infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and epidermal-transdermal ratios.
Main Results:
- A 175-fold increase in epidermal diclofenac loading was achieved with high PG concentrations (76:24 PG:water ratio).
- High PG loading promoted epidermal-transdermal drug distribution (6.8:1).
- Low PG loading resulted in poor epidermal localization (0.7:1 distribution).
Conclusions:
- Supramolecular solvent structures, particularly PG-rich ones, can effectively control and enhance drug accumulation in the human epidermis.
- Optimizing solvent composition is a viable strategy for targeted topical drug delivery.
- This approach offers potential for improved efficacy of epidermal drug treatments.
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