Stability enhancement of all-trans retinyl acetate through Nanoencapsulation

Abstract

In this work, encapsulation of all-trans retinyl acetate was investigated using appropriate polymer. The result showed that ATRA-encapsulated poly(ethylene glycol)-4-methoxycinnamoylphthaloylchitosan (PCPLC) nanoparticles gave the particle size of 113.2 ± 27.1 nm. The encapsulation efficiency was 77.9 ± 2.5% at ATRA loading of 21.06 ± 0.1%. The stability study under light-proof condition and when exposed to 45.9 J/cm2 of UVA radiation indicated ~40% and ~36% higher stability of the encapsulated ATRA over free ATRA, respectively. Penetration study with Franz diffusion cell revealed that the encapsulated particles could not transdermally penetrate across the baby mouse skin. Further investigation using confocal fluorescent laser scanning microscope indicated that hair follicle was the skin penetrating route of the particles. In addition, the accumulated particles at the hair follicles released ATRA out into the surrounding tissue.