Abstract
The aim of this work was to evaluate the deformable liposomes (DLs) containing sodium deoxycholate or cineol to produce two types of liposomes in comparison to conventional liposomes (CL). The effect of these DLs on the in vitro transdermal delivery of flufenamic acid (FFA) was investigated. The DLs and CL were characterized in terms of size distribution, zeta potential, polydispersity index and vesicle stability. The influence of ULs on the in vitro skin penetration and skin deposition of FFA was studied by in vitro diffusion experiments in comparison with CL and ethanolic solutions of the drug. Results showed that all of the used vesicular systems were able to have smaller particle size, low polydispersity (PDI<0.3), negative zeta potential and good stability. In vitro skin penetration data showed that DLs were able to give a statistically significant improvement of FFA deposition in the skin in comparison with CLs and drug solutions. Moreover, the DLs, prepared with cineole, were also able to deliver to the skin a higher total amount of FFA thus suggesting that drugs delivery of the drug to the skin was strictly correlated to the vesicle composition.