A dynamic topical hydrofluoroalkane foam to induce nanoparticle modification and drug release in situ

Topical nanoparticles are usually applied using semi-solid formulations, but the delivery process is often inefficient due to the poor drug release from the particles. The aim of this study was to investigate the capability of a dynamic foam to break open nanoparticles upon application to the skin and enhance drug delivery efficiency. Vitamin E acetate (VEAc) was selected as a model drug and loaded into lipid nanoparticles (50–60 nm) prepared by phase inversion. The highest drug loading was 18.9 ± 1.2 mg/ml and the corresponding encapsulation efficiency was 81.5 ± 4.1%. Dynamic foams were generated by emulsifying VEAc-loaded nanoparticle suspensions with hydrofluoroalkane using pluronic L62D. An in vitro permeation study demonstrated that VEAc did not release from the nanoparticles when administered as an aqueous suspension, but attained a flux of 18.0 ± 2.1 (μg cm−2 h−1) when applied using the foam. Drug release from the foam was shown to be a consequence of nanoparticle modification after dose administration and this led to the foam delivering 0.7 ± 0.3% VEAc into the stratum corneum (SC) when applied to human skin.