Objectives: In last decades, dermal delivery of drugs has attracted a great interest. In this study, calcium phosphate nanoparticles (CaP-NPs), zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) and some organic solventswere used as combination enhancers for dermal delivery of albumin.
Methods: Formulations contained albumin, solvent, CaP-NPs and/or ZnO-NPs. Permeation of albumin was determined by an ex vivo (animal skin) method. Distribution of the NPs in the skin layers was depicted by optical microscopic method.
Results: Among solvents, liquid paraffin (LP) showed the greatest increase in albumin permeation (total permeation of 384 mg). CaP-NPs and ZnO-NPs also increased the albumin permeation (19 and 22 mg, respectively).Combination of these NPs and LP further increased the albumin permeation (470 and 487 mg, respectively).
Conclusion: All solvents increased albumin permeation while LP showed a dramatic increase. CaP-NPs or ZnO-NPs also increased the permeation. Enhancing mechanism of the NPs was attributed to their deposition through skin layers shown by images. Using a combination of CaP-NPs and/or ZnO-NPs with LP caused synergistic permeations following by a saturation ata high dose of the NPs. The study suggests simultaneous use of proper doses of such inorganic NPs with LP to considerably enhance dermal delivery of albumin or other proteins.
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