Dermatokinetic assessment of luliconazole-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) for topical delivery: QbD-driven design, optimization, and in vitro and ex vivo evaluations

The present study is concerned with the QbD-based design and development of luliconazole-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) hydrogel for enhanced skin retention and permeation. The NLCs formulation was optimized employing a 3-factor, 3-level Box-Behnken design. The effect of formulation variable lipid content, surfactant concentration, and sonication time was studied on particle size and % EE. The optimized formulation exhibited particle size of 86.480 +/- 0.799 nm; 0.213 +/- 0.004 PDI, >= - 10 mV zeta potential and 85.770 +/- 0.503% EE. The in vitro release studies revealed sustained release of NLCs up to 42 h. The designed formulation showed desirable occlusivity, spreadability (0.748 +/- 0.160), extrudability (3.130 +/- 1.570), and the assay was found to be 99.520 +/- 0.890%. The dermatokinetics assessment revealed the C-max Skin to be similar to 2-fold higher and AUC(0-24) to be similar to 3-fold higher in the epidermis and dermis of NLCs loaded gel in contrast with the marketed cream. The T-max of both the formulations was found to be 6 h in the epidermis and dermis. The obtained results suggested that luliconazole NLCs can serve as a promising formulation to enhance luliconazole's antifungal activity and also in increasing patient compliance by reducing the frequency of application.

Automated summary

This study focused on QbD-based design and development of luliconazole-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) hydrogel for improved skin retention and permeation. Optimized formulation exhibited desirable characteristics and sustained release up to 42 hours. Dermatokinetics assessment revealed higher drug concentration in epidermis and dermis with the designed NLCs gel compared to the marketed cream, suggesting it as a promising formulation for enhanced antifungal activity.