Permeation profiles of resveratrol cream delivered through porcine vaginal mucosa: Evaluation of different HPLC stationary phases

• Different stationary phases for resveratrol cream were tested.
• The cream was to be used intravaginally and the permeation was assessed.
• Titanized stationary phase presented the best analytical results.
• Drug was not successfully delivered to the blood stream via vaginal route.

Trans-resveratrol affects biological systems in a multitude of ways, but its oral bioavailability is remarkably poor due to in vivo metabolization. This drawback has fomented the development of new strategies for systemic delivery, such as transmucosal delivery via the vaginal route, which is our main focus here. In this sense, our pioneering study purposed to evaluate the trans-resveratrol permeation efficacy through this route. For that, we used a previously validated method and tested it with three different stationary phases: a commercial C18 column and two laboratory-made chromatographic columns containing poly(methyloctadecylsiloxane) (PMODS) thermally immobilized onto zirconized silica (Zr-PMODS) or titanized silica (Ti-PMODS). The permeation experiments showed that resveratrol, in the formulation used, was not successfully delivered to the bloodstream – it was actually retained within the vaginal mucosa, which suggests a local use rather a systemic one.