Combinatorial lipid-nanosystem for dermal delivery of 5-fluorouracil and resveratrol against skin cancer: Delineation of improved dermatokinetics and epidermal drug deposition enhancement analysis

In the present study, combinatorial nanostructured lipid carrier gel of 5-fluorouracil and resveratrol was formulated, optimized and characterized to enhance permeation in between epidermis and dermis layers of the skin to obtain a synergistic effect against skin cancer. After extensive trials, a newly modified emulsiosonication method was developed and additionally, for the first time, stability studies were done in the beginning to optimize formulation technique, which exhibited two major benefits simultaneously; first, it provided best-optimized technique for preparation of combinatorial lipid-nanosystem, and secondly, it also demonstrated a detailed report card of durability of formulations.

Highlights

For the preparation of a stable dual drug-loaded lipid-nanosystem of 5-FU and RSV, a modified emulsiosonication method has been developed and optimized.

The slow and prolonged release of 5-FU and RSV from the combinatorial lipid-nanosystem reduced the systemic absorption and maximized the drug retention in between epidermis and dermis for the management and treatment of skin cancer.

In vitro, ex vivo permeation analysis and mechanism of skin permeation enhancement study revealed the enhanced permeation via alteration in the tight junction of stratum corneum.

Dermatokinetic assessment and depth analysis studies confirmed that the combinatorial lipid-nanosystem was much more efficient than conventional formulation in dermal application.

In vitro efficacy study also showed a greater efficacy of linogel over the conventional formulation.

In vitro release study showed a significantly improved, slow and prolonged release of drugs from the optimized lipid-nanosystem (***p<0.05), which followed non-Fickian Higuchi kinetics. Besides, mechanism of skin permeation enhancement study, dermatokinetic assessment, and depth analysis of optimized formulation on skin exhibited improved permeation and well distribution of drugs up to the dermis layer of skin. Moreover, combinatorial linogel possessed significantly greater efficacy (**p<0.01) on the A431 cell line, as compared to the conventional formulation. Thus, findings revealed that modified method of preparation for dual drug-loaded lipid-nanosystem lead to the production of a stable formulation that also improved the retention of both 5-fluorouracil and resveratrol in between the epidermis and dermis region of skin thereby helping in the management and treatment of skin cancer.

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Article information: Mohammad Kashif Iqubal, Ashif Iqubal, Khalid Imtiyaz, M Moshahid A. Rizvi, Madan Mohan Gupta, Javed Ali, Sanjula Baboota. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpb.2021.04.007.