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Research Article

Chitosan-reduced gold nanoparticles: a novel carrier for the preparation of spray-dried liposomes for topical delivery

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Pages 324-332 | Received 16 Aug 2010, Accepted 12 Feb 2011, Published online: 31 May 2011
 

Abstract

Exposure of skin to various chemical and physical agents results in excessive stress to the outermost cell layer of the skin, causing different degenerative effects that can be minimized by using antioxidant formulations. The major challenge, in this regard, is to develop a formulation, which can prevent photodegradation of the actives, thus allowing a significant amount to be deposited at the site. In recent decades, liposomal formulations have been extensively employed to overcome the barrier properties of the skin and photodegradation of actives. In the present study, chitosan-reduced gold nanoparticles were investigated for its potential as a carrier to prepare liposomes by a spray-drying method. Liposomes so obtained were characterized for phospholipid recovery, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy, particle size, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency, and deposition of drug and gold nanoparticles in the rat skin. Further, a liposomal gel formulation was prepared using Carbopol® 980 NF (Noveon Systems, Kochi, India) and evaluated for drug deposition in the skin. Antioxidant activity of vitamin C encapsulated in gold liposomes was determined on a human leukemia (HL-60) cell line. The use of gold nanoparticles as a carrier showed improved phospholipid recovery and thus overcomes the liposome scalability problem. DRIFT spectra confirmed the presence of phospholipid in the formulation. Liposomal gel showed improved drug deposition, as compared to control and marketed preparations. A more interesting contribution of the chitosan-reduced gold nanoparticles was an enhanced antioxidant activity seen in case of the vitamin C–loaded gold liposomal formulation. Liposomal formulation was found to be stable for 3 months at 30°C and 65% relative humidity.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Drs. Torsten Kromp and Eduard Hoff from Phospholipid GmbH for providing a gift sample of phospholipid. The authors are also thankful to Softesule and Noveon for providing gift samples of vitamin C and Carbopol 980 NF, respectively. Finally, the authors thank Drs. Madhusudhanrao of Kakatiya University (Warangal, India) and S.L. Bodhankar from the Department of Pharmacology, Poona College of Pharmacy for providing zeta-potential facility and sacrificed animals, respectively.

Declaration of interest

Mahesh N. Padamwar and Varsha Pokharkar are thankful to CSIR (New Delhi, India) and UGC (New Delhi, India) for providing financial assistance in terms of a Senior Research Fellowship and a Major Research Project, respectively.

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