Transdermal Delivery of Ciclopirox Olamine via Ethosomal and Liposomal Carrier

Ciclopirox olamine is an antifungal drug for the treatment of cutaneous candidiasis infections. However its oral administration is associated with number of drawbacks. The goal of the current investigation is to evaluate the transdermal potential of novel vesicular carrier. Ciclopirox olamine loaded ethosomes and liposomes were prepared, optimized and characterized. The ethosomal formulation (E9) showed the significant entrapment (72.81±3.5%) by entrapment study, whereas liposome showed only (32.8±2.5%). The size range for ethosomes was observed (152±11 nm) and liposomes (231±23 nm), which was selected for further transdermal permeation studies. Stability study was performed for 120 days, which revealed low aggregation and growth in vesicular size for ethosomes compared to liposomes. Skin entrapment efficiency assessed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) which revealed that ethosomes shows more permeation in the deeper layer of the skin (168 μm) compare to liposomes (100 μm). Vesicle skin interaction study also showed that no interaction between the formulation and rat skin. Our results indicate that the ethosomal formulation may be a promising candidate for transdermal delivery of ciclopirox olamine than liposomes for the treatment of number of dermal infections with better efficiency.