Olive Oil/Pluronic Oleogels for Skin Delivery of Quercetin: In Vitro Characterization and Ex Vivo Skin Permeability.

Mohammed Elmowafy,Mohamed A Abdelgawad,Mohammad M Al-Sanea,Shahinaze A Fouad,Ayman Salama,Taghreed S Alnusaire,Khaled Shalaby,Mohammed Gamal,Arafa Musa,Maged M A Fouda

doi:10.3390/polym13111808

Mohammed Elmowafy, Mohamed A Abdelgawad + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13111808

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Abstract

The main objective of this study was to prepare and characterize oleogel as potential carrier for quercetin skin delivery. The formulations were prepared by adding olive oil (5–30%) to Pluronic F127 hydrogel and were evaluated for particle size, zeta potential, viscosity in vitro quercetin release and stability, and were compared with that of Pluronic F127 hydrogel. The selected formulation was characterized for its interaction possibility, ex vivo skin permeation and skin histological changes and safety. The particle sizes ranged from 345.3 ± 5.3 nm to 401.5 ± 2.8 nm, and possessed negative charges. The viscosities of the formulations were found in the range of 6367–4823 cps with inverse proportionality to olive oil percentage while the higher percentages showed higher quercetin release. Percentages of 25% and 30% olive oil showed instability pattern under the conditions of accelerated stability studies. Differential scanning calorimetry verified the existence of quercetin in micellar aggregation and the network in the case of hydrogel and oleogel respectively. Ex vivo skin permeation showed an improved skin permeation of quercetin when 20% olive oil containing oleogel was used. Skin histology after 10 days of application showed stratum corneum disruption and good safety profile. Based on these findings, the proposed oleogel containing 20% olive oil denotes a potential carrier for topical delivery of quercetin.

Highlights

The skin is the largest organ of human body and acts as biological barrier which protects the body any external threatening hazards
Among the various drug delivery systems, oleogels were selected as promising system to deliver QT to the skin
Loaded hydrogel and oleogels formulated for the current study, which were designed on the basis of olive oil percentage (5–30%) aiming to study the effect of the these percentages on different physicochemical characteristics and skin permeability

Summary

Introduction

The skin is the largest organ of human body and acts as biological barrier which protects the body any external threatening hazards. The external hazardous stimuli may be in the form of ultraviolet and visible radiation, microbial invaders, ionizing radiation and oxidants (reactive oxygen species; ROS) [1,2]. If the oxidative stress of ROS overweighs skin self-protective effect, skin harms may take place such as lipid peroxidation, DNA breakage, tumor promotion [4] and, skin aging. Assistance of the skin self-protective systems by exogenous antioxidants could preclude ROS-induced cuteneous damage. Polyphenolic compounds, including flavonoids, are well known as powerful antioxidants and are generally used for topical use as a protectants against natural skin damage (as photo-ageing), skin cancer prevention and skin cosmetic-care [5,6,7]

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