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Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Caffeine Extraction, Enzymatic Activity and Gene Expression of Caffeine Synthase from Plant Cell Suspensions
Published on: October 2, 2018
Effect of Transcutol P on Percutaneous Absorption of Gel Containing Pure Synthetic Caffeine or Plant-Extracted
Nastaran Seyyed Abbasi1,2, Fatemeh Soltanmohammadi1,2, Mohammad Charkhpour3
1Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran, tbzmed.ac.ir.
Background:
Caffeine, a safe methylxanthine, has been widely used for the treatment of skin diseases such as cellulite, hair loss, aging, and psoriasis. However, its skin penetration is low. Transcutol is a biocompatible, nonvolatile permeation enhancer which solubilize large number of drugs and does not change the integrity of the skin structure.
Materials And Methods:
In this study, the skin permeability of synthetic and natural caffeine gels was compared by ex vivo experiments. Furthermore, Transcutol P was used as a permeation enhancer, and its impact on skin permeation enhancement was determined.
Results:
The skin penetration of caffeine from the formulation containing coffee extract, a type of natural caffeine, is higher than that of the formulation containing pure synthetic caffeine. This effect is likely due to the presence of coffee, which can act as a skin permeation enhancer. Additionally, the use of Transcutol P in a formulation containing coffee extract at a concentration of 2.5% caused the highest amount of flux. Therefore, the formulation of gel containing natural caffeine along with 2.5% Transcutol is optimal and can be used for further studies.
Conclusion:
It can be concluded that the addition of 2.5% Transcutol P in the formulation containing coffee extract resulted in the highest skin permeation.
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