Tocopheryl acetate disposition in porcine and human skin when administered using lipid nanocarriers

Objectives: Assessing the delivery of a drug into the skin when it has been formulated within a nanocarrier is a complex process that does not conform to the conventions of traditional semi-solid formulations. The aim of this study was to gain a fundamental understanding of drug disposition in both human and porcine skin when applied using a lipidic nanocarrier. Methods: A model system was generated by loading tocopheryl acetate into a well-characterised solid lipid nanoparticle and formulating this system as a traditional aqueous hyaluronic acid gel. Franz diffusion cells fitted with a silicone or nylon membrane were used to assess drug and particle transport independently whilst human and pig skin were employed to determine skin delivery. Key findings: The tocopheryl acetate, when loaded into the solid lipid nanoparticles, did not release from the particle. However, 1.65 ± 0.90% of an infinite dose of tocopheryl acetate penetrated into the stratum corneum of pig skin when delivered using a nanoparticle-containing gel. Conclusions: These results suggest that hydration of the stratum corneum in pig skin could lead to the opening of hydrophilic pores big enough for 50 nm-sized particles to pass into the superficial layers of the skin, a phenomenon that was not repeated in human skin.