Apremilast Microemulsion as Topical Therapy for Local Inflammation: Design, Characterization and Efficacy Evaluation

Apremilast (APR) is a selective phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor administered orally in the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis and active psoriatic arthritis. The low solubility and permeability of this drug hinder its dermal administration. The purpose of this study was to design and characterize an apremilast-loaded microemulsion (APR-ME) as topical therapy for local skin inflammation. Its composition was determined using pseudo-ternary diagrams. Physical, chemical and biopharmaceutical characterization were performed. Stability of this formulation was studied for 90 days. Tolerability of APR-ME was evaluated in healthy volunteers while its anti-inflammatory potential was studied using in vitro and in vivo models. A homogeneous formulation with Newtonian behavior and droplets of nanometric size and spherical shape was obtained. APR-ME released the incorporated drug following a first-order kinetic and facilitated drug retention into the skin, ensuring a local effect. Anti-inflammatory potential was observed for its ability to decrease the production of IL-6 and IL-8 in the in vitro model. This effect was confirmed in the in vivo model histologically by reduction in infiltration of inflammatory cells and immunologically by decrease of inflammatory cytokines IL-8, IL-17A and TNFα. Consequently, these results suggest that this formulation could be used as an attractive topical treatment for skin inflammation.