A nanoemulgel of minocycline formulated with eucalyptus oil, Tween 20, and Transcutol HP shows improved drug delivery and sustained-release behavior, making it a promising treatment for acne rosacea.
Acne rosacea is characterized by visible blood vessels, pustules, papules, and persistent or transient facial erythema. The topical treatment modalities for acne rosacea include antibiotics and skin permeation enhancers, such as salicylic acid. Minocycline is systemically delivered; however, its first-pass metabolism may compromise its efficacy. The current study investigated the effectiveness of minocycline-loaded nanoemulgel in acne rosacea treatment. The study concluded that this formulation is potentially effective for the treatment of acne rosacea. The study findings are published in the journal Pharmaceutics.
Eucalyptus Oil Enhances Minocycline Drug Delivery
The solubilization capacity of an oil determines the target dose of the drug. Since minocycline has low lipophilicity, eucalyptus oil was chosen, as it demonstrated the greatest ability to solubilize minocycline (4.6280 mg/mL).
Tween 20 Was Selected as the Surfactant
Minocycline had the highest solubility in the surfactant Tween 20, which has a safe skin profile. The drug solubilization capacity of Tween 20 was 14.35563 mg/mL. Transcutol HP was chosen as the cosurfactant, as it had the highest minocycline solubility, at 4.81338 mg/mL. Co-surfactants influence the phase separation behavior of nanoemulsion systems.
Optimized Nanoemulsion Enables Faster Minocycline Release
Based on the dialysis bag method, the release of minocycline with optimized minocycline nanoemulsion was relatively faster than that of nanoemulsion preparation. Hence, minocycline nanoemulsion represents a desirable sustained-release behavior and has a better result following an hour-long application of nanoemulsion on the skin.
Minocycline Nanoemulgel’s Efficacy Confirmed by Confocal Microscopy
Confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed that the penetration of rhodamine-loaded nanoemulgel was 25 micrometers, which was sufficient for the therapeutic activity of minocycline nanoemulgel.
This study concluded that minocycline-bearing nanoemulgel had an optimal drug permeation and drug release profile for the treatment of acne rosacea and is expected to yield better treatment outcomes.
Source
Siddiqui, A., Jain, P., Alex, T. S., Ali, M. A., Hassan, N., Haneef, J., Naseef, P. P., Kuruniyan, M. S., Mirza, M. A., & Iqbal, Z. (2022). Investigation of a Minocycline-Loaded Nanoemulgel for the Treatment of Acne Rosacea. Pharmaceutics, 14(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14112322
