Formulation, Optimization, and Antioxidant Evaluation of Tetrahydrocurcumin-Loaded Ultradeformable Nanovesicular Cream

Purpose

Tetrahydrocurcumin (THC) has excellent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, but its poor aqueous solubility limits its use in pharmaceutical and cosmetic formulations. The present study aimed to develop, optimize, and characterize a nanovesicular cream-loaded tetrahydrocurcumin transfersomes (THC-TFs) to improve its topical delivery and enhance its antioxidant activity.

Methodology

THC-TFs were prepared using the thin-film hydration technique and characterized for vesicle size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency, and skin penetration. The optimized transfersomal formulation was incorporated into a cream base and characterized for various parameters.

Results

The optimized THC-TF (OPT-THC-TF) suspension showed a vesicle size of 212 ± 4.78 nm, a zeta potential of –40.3 mV, and percentage entrapment efficiency of 83.74 ± 0.21. Fluorescence microscopy revealed that transfersomes penetrated the deeper layers of skin. Ex vivo skin permeation demonstrated that OPT-THC-TF cream has better skin permeation and deposition potential compared to the THC conventional cream. The α, α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity assay revealed that the antioxidant potential of THC-TF cream (77%) was comparable to that of pure THC (81%), demonstrating that THC antioxidant activity is unaffected by its encapsulation into transfersomes. The cell viability study revealed that THC-TF cream (***p < 0.001) significantly decreased the cytotoxicity toward normal cells (L-929) compared to pure THC solution.

Conclusion

Based on these findings, it was concluded that the OPT-THC-TF cream could be a promising strategy for the topical delivery of encapsulated drugs for the effective treatment of various dermatological disorders.