Sustainable vesicular nanosystems incorporated into film-forming gels for niacinamide cutaneous delivery

Niacinamide is a hydrophilic cosmetic ingredient whose low skin permeation and limited incorporation into conventional nanocarriers present significant challenges.

This investigation focused on developing a nanocarrier to enhance the skin permeation of niacinamide. A novel film-forming gel system incorporating these nanocarriers was proposed, and its physicochemical characteristics were evaluated.

Nanocarriers containing niacinamide (1 mg/mL) were prepared with phytantriol evaluating their physicochemical characterization, stability, antioxidant activity and skin permeation, in comparison with the active ingredient in its free form. These nanocarriers were incorporated into a film-forming gel system, using Polifil^® (6 and 8%) as the film-forming polymer. Prior physicochemical characterization of the film-forming gel system was also conducted. The formulations were prepared without the use of organic solvents, using a top-down approach.

The phytantriol-based nanocarriers, regarding their physical-chemical characterization, showed a Z-average of 160 nm, a polydispersity index of 0.104, a zeta potential of -22 mV, pH of 6.6 and a niacinamide content of 100.2%, with an incorporation rate of 52.7%. These parameters remained unchanged for 30 days at room temperature. Also, the nanocarriers containing niacinamide showed significantly greater niacinamide dermal penetration (p < 0.05) compared to the free active ingredient. Phytantriol-based nanocarriers presented an improvement in antioxidant activity, assessed by DPPH and β-carotene reduction methods (p < 0.05). Finally, in the film-forming gel system, the formulation at 8%, presented rheological and bioadhesion parameters appropriate for topical use.

The film-forming gel with phytantriol-based nanocarriers shows promising properties for the topical application of niacinamide.