The Role of Deformable Liposome Characteristics on Skin Permeability of Meloxicam: Optimal Transfersome as Transdermal Delivery Carriers

ABSTRACT

The role of deformable liposomes characteristics on skin permeability has evoked considerable interest, since the articles reporting the effectiveness of transfersomes for skin delivery were increasingly published. Several reports focus on the effect of formulation factor which directly affected the transfersome’s skin permeability. However, the effect of formulation factors was not fully understood as the contradictory results. To clarify this problem, the reliable statistical techniques, excellent experimental design and systematical variation were used in this study. Transfersomes loaded meloxicam containing controlled amount of phosphatidylcholine (PC), cholesterol (Chol), type of surfactant (hydrophilic part, lipophilic part ) were prepared and investigated for the physicochemical characteristics (e.g., size, size distribution, charge, elasticity, drug content, morphology) and skin permeability. The results indicated that the transfersome containing 10% cholesterol, 29% cetylpyridinium chloride (cationic surfactant) with 16 carbons chain length and 10% meloxicam was the optimal formulation for meloxicam transdermal delivery carrier. The skin permeation of meloxicam in novel transfersome formulation was higher than classical transfersomes, conventional liposomes and meloxicam saturated suspension. Thus, our finding provided important fundamental information for developing novel deformable liposomes for transdermal drug delivery, especially transfersomes containing surfactant systems.

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