Coenzyme Q10 phospholipidic vesicular formulations for treatment of androgenic alopecia: ex vivo permeation and clinical appraisal

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is an antioxidant molecule with anti-aging activity on human hair, and because of its pharmaceutical limitations such as large molecular weight, high lipophilicity and poor water solubility, its therapeutic effectiveness has been hampered. Therefore, different vesicular nanocarriers were developed in the current work, for enhancement of the skin penetration of CoQ10 for treatment of androgenic alopecia.

Areas covered

In order to overcome the poor skin penetration of CoQ10, it was formulated in liposomes, transfersomes, ethosomes, cerosomes and transethosomes using the thin-film hydration method. Results revealed that transethosomes were the carrier of choice for CoQ10, in which it displayed a particle size of 146 nm, zeta potential −55 mV and entrapment efficiency of 97.63%. Transethosomes also achieved the highest deposition percentage for CoQ10, exceeding 95% in the different skin layers. Upon clinical examination in patients suffering from androgenic alopecia, CoQ10 transethosomes displayed better clinical response than the administration of CoQ10 solution, which was further confirmed by dermoscopic examination.

Expert opinion

Findings of this study further prove that loading antioxidants such as CoQ10 in nanocarriers maximizes their therapeutic efficiency, and opens many opportunities for their application in treatment of several other topical diseases.

KEYWORDS:

• Coenzyme q10
• liposomes
• ethosomes
• transethosomes
• transfersomes
• cerosomes
• androgenic alopecia

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to Cargill and Evonik companies for their kind supply of some of the chemicals used for the preparation of vesicular formulations.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Author contributions

All authors were involved in the conception, design, analysis and interpretation of data, as well as drafting the paper and its critical revision. All authors agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work and they all approve the final version of the paper.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.