Transfersomes are promising nanocarriers for transdermal drug delivery since they are ultra-deformable liposomes constituted of phospholipids and surfactants; these latter compounds work as edge activators, allowing the deformation of the vesicle. In this work, transfersomes were produced by using SuperSomes, an innovative and continuous process assisted by supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2). Different amounts of phosphatidylcholine (PC) (i.e., 500, 1000, and 2000 mg) were tested; whereas, phosphatidylcholine/Span 80 weight ratio was maintained constant at 80:20 value. SuperSomes operating conditions were fixed at 100 bar and 40 °C. Transfersomes with nanometric size and unimodal size distribution were obtained without post-processing operations (i.e., solvent removal or filtration), which are mandatory steps for conventional production methods. The optimized formulation resulted in transfersomes of about 180 nm mean diameter, with a low polydispersity index (equal to 0.304) and a -21.00 mV Zeta-potential. Diclofenac sodium (DF) was then loaded into these transfersomes with an encapsulation efficiency of 74%; drug release tests showed a prolonged release of DF up to about four times than drug alone.
Deformable Nanovesicles Produced by Using a Supercritical Technology for Enhanced Transdermal Drug Delivery
Sarnelli S.;Reverchon E.;Baldino L.
2025
Abstract
Transfersomes are promising nanocarriers for transdermal drug delivery since they are ultra-deformable liposomes constituted of phospholipids and surfactants; these latter compounds work as edge activators, allowing the deformation of the vesicle. In this work, transfersomes were produced by using SuperSomes, an innovative and continuous process assisted by supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2). Different amounts of phosphatidylcholine (PC) (i.e., 500, 1000, and 2000 mg) were tested; whereas, phosphatidylcholine/Span 80 weight ratio was maintained constant at 80:20 value. SuperSomes operating conditions were fixed at 100 bar and 40 °C. Transfersomes with nanometric size and unimodal size distribution were obtained without post-processing operations (i.e., solvent removal or filtration), which are mandatory steps for conventional production methods. The optimized formulation resulted in transfersomes of about 180 nm mean diameter, with a low polydispersity index (equal to 0.304) and a -21.00 mV Zeta-potential. Diclofenac sodium (DF) was then loaded into these transfersomes with an encapsulation efficiency of 74%; drug release tests showed a prolonged release of DF up to about four times than drug alone.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
