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Updated: Aug 25, 2026
Preparation, Purification, and Use of Fatty Acid-containing Liposomes
Published on: February 9, 2018
Formulation and Characterization of Lipidic Vesicles Utilizing CCD for Enhanced Permeation of Phenylephrine HCl for
Ravi Shankar1,2, Prabhat Kumar Upadhyaya1, Manish Kumar3
1Institute of Pharmaceutical Research, GLA University, Mathura, 281406, Uttar Pardesh, India.
Introduction:
Chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA) is a common and distressing side effect of cancer therapy. Phenylephrine hydrochloride can reduce follicular exposure to chemotherapeutic drugs through localized vasoconstriction, but its topical effectiveness is limited by poor skin penetration. Invasomal nanocarriers provide an efficient platform for enhancing dermal delivery and sustaining local drug action Methods: A rotatable three-level two-factor Central Composite Design (CCD) was employed to optimize invasomal formulations. The optimized invasomal dispersion was formulated using lipoid 80, and D-limonene was incorporated into a Carbopol-based hydrogel for sustained drug release. Formulations were characterized for vesicular morphology, zeta potential, drug entrapment, in vitro drug release, and ex vivo permeation studies using goat skin. Statistical models were validated using ANOVA.
Results:
The optimized formulation exhibited a vesicle size of 162 ± 1.8 (nm), EE% of 63.09 ± 3.2 %, and a steady-state flux of 0.6251 µg/cm²/h-over fivefold higher than the conventional gel. Optimization was performed using a Central Composite Design based on phospholipid and terpene concentrations. The invasomal gel exhibited significantly higher cumulative drug permeation (59.34 ± 2.34%) compared to the conventional gel (19.97 ± 0.86%) (p < 0.005), confirming enhanced dermal delivery. Drug release followed a Higuchi diffusion model, indicating controlled and sustained release for deeper dermal penetration.
Discussion:
The results compellingly demonstrate that the phenylephrine-loaded invasomal gel markedly outperforms conventional formulations by achieving superior dermal penetration and sustained drug release. This optimized nanocarrier system presents a transformative, non-invasive strategy for combating chemotherapy-induced alopecia.
Conclusion:
The developed phenylephrine-loaded invasomal gel demonstrated superior drug penetration and sustained release, suggesting its potential as a novel, non-invasive strategy for chemotherapy-induced alopecia management. Future studies should focus on in vivo validation and long-term stability assessments for clinical translation.
