abstract
Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) membranes have enormous potential as systems for topical drug delivery due to their intrinsic biocompatibility and three-dimensional nanoporous structure, which can house all kinds of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Thus, the present study investigated the long-term storage stability of BNC membranes loaded with both hydrophilic and lipophilic APIs, namely, caffeine, lidocaine, ibuprofen and diclofenac. The storage stability was evaluated under accelerated testing conditions at different temperatures and relative humidity (RH), i.e., 75% RH/40 degrees C, 60% RH/25 degrees C and 0% RH/40 degrees C. All systems were quite stable under these storage conditions with no significant structural and morphological changes or variations in the drug release profile. The only difference observed was in the moisture-uptake, which increased with RH due to the hydrophilic nature of BNC. Furthermore, the caffeine-loaded BNC membrane was selected for in vivo cutaneous compatibility studies, where patches were applied in the volar forearm of twenty volunteers for 24 h. The cutaneous responses were assessed by non-invasive measurements and the tests revealed good compatibility for caffeine-loaded BNC membranes. These results highlight the good storage stability of the API-loaded BNC membranes and their cutaneous compatibility, which confirms the real potential of these dermal delivery systems.
keywords
TRANSEPIDERMAL WATER-LOSS; CELLULOSE MEMBRANES; BIOCELLULOSE MEMBRANES; TRANSDERMAL DELIVERY; CONTROLLED-RELEASE; EEMCO GUIDANCE; IONIC LIQUIDS; NANOCOMPOSITES; SOLUBILITY; IBUPROFEN
subject category
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Chemistry
authors
Silva, NHCS; Mota, JP; de Almeida, TS; Carvalho, JPF; Silvestre, AJD; Vilela, C; Rosado, C; Freire, CSR
our authors
Armando Jorge Domingues Silvestre
Full professor
Carla Vilela
Auxiliary Researcher
Carmen Sofia da Rocha Freire Barros
Principal Researcher
João Pedro Fernandes Carvalho
PhD Student
Nuno Helder da Cruz Simões Silva
ResearcherProjects
Engenharia de nanofibras de origem biológica para o desenvolvimento de biotintas nanoestruturadas de elevada performance para bio-impressão 3-D (NANOBIOINKS)
AgroForWealth - Biorefinação de sub-Produtos agrícolas e florestais: uma estratégia de valorização de recursos para o bem estar social e a sustentabilidade (AGROFORWEALTH)
acknowledgements
This work was developed within the scope of the project CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials (UIDB/50011/2020 & UIDP/50011/2020), financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC, and when appropriate, co-financed by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and also project UID/DTP/04567/2016 financed by national funds through the FCT. The research contract of N.H.C.S.S. is funded by project NANOBIOINKS (CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-031289). J.P.F.C. thanks the AgroForWealth project (CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000001) for his research grant. FCT is also acknowledged for the research contracts under Scientific Employment Stimulus to C.V. (CEECIND/00263/2018) and C.S.R.F. (CEECIND/00464/2017).