Optimized albendazole-loaded nanostructured lipid carrier gel: a redefined approach for localized skin cancer treatment†

Abstract

The chief purpose of the current study is to fabricate nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC)-based gel for localized delivery of repurposed albendazole (ABZ) against skin cancer to reduce systemic and other organ-related side effects and enhance patient compliance. ABZ NLCs were constructed by the melt-emulsification ultrasonication method and optimized using Box-Behnken Design (BBD). The ABZ NLCs were analyzed for mean particle size, % entrapment efficiency (%EE), and zeta potential. Furthermore, an NLC-based gel was developed using optimized ABZ NLCs and the Carbopol-934 gelling agent and characterized for physical properties, viscosity, texture, ex vivo skin permeation, in vitro cytotoxicity, stability, etc. The optimized ABZ NLCs displayed a %EE of 89.85 ± 5.6% and a particle size of 176.5 ± 7.3 nm. The pH of the ABZ NLC-based gel developed using 1.0% w/v of Carbopol-934 was between 5.1 and 6.0. The viscosity of the optimized ABZ NLC-based gel was 6.64 ± 0.67 Pa s. Besides, the NLC-based gel exhibited better and controlled ABZ release at pH 5.5 and 6.8 than the conventional ABZ gel. The ex vivo permeation of ABZ from NLCs and the NLC-based gel was 5.1 and 4.5-fold higher, respectively, than from the conventional gel. Notably, the in vitro cytotoxicity against B16F10 cells of ABZ NLCs was 1.7-fold and 2.2-fold higher than those of pure ABZ and the ABZ NLC-based gel. A negligible cytotoxicity of the developed formulations was seen in normal HaCaT cells (human epidermal cells), signifying the compatibility of these formulations with healthy cells. Moreover, the ABZ-incorporated NLCs and NLC gel remained stable for twelve weeks at 4 ± 2 °C. Thus, the given research concludes that the NLC-loaded gel could be a harmless, efficient, and novel choice to treat skin cancer using repurposed ABZ.