5-Fluorouracil-loaded ultradeformable liposomes for skin therapy

Abstract

5-Fluorouracil (5FU) is an antineoplastic drug with a poor percutaneous permeation. For this reason, its efficacy for topical treatments is reduced to superficial or advanced skin lesions (that have already damaged the horny layer). In this work we propose the incorporation of 5FU into ultradeformable liposomes as a drug delivery system able to cross the intact skin barrier and transport the active to the viable epidermis. Thus, the drug could reach deep skin lesions in earlier stages of the disease. We present some biophysical parameters of a stable formulation and its toxic effects on zebrafish model (Danio rerio). In addition, we followed two co-encapsulated fluorescent probes along to the stratum corneum and viable epidermis of the human skin to determine the penetration profiles of both lipophilic and hydrophilic compounds in this kind of formulation.