PUBLICATION

Biocompatible Lyotropic Nanocarriers for Improved Delivery of Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate in Skincare

Authors
Han, X., Yan, Q., Gao, N., Kang, Y., Li, N., Zou, A.
ID
ZDB-PUB-250128-2
Date
2025
Source
Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids : (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Skin Care/methods
  • Animals
  • Particle Size
  • Nanoparticles*/chemistry
  • Zebrafish*
  • Liquid Crystals/chemistry
  • Biocompatible Materials/chemistry
  • Biocompatible Materials/pharmacology
  • Ascorbic Acid*/chemistry
  • Ascorbic Acid*/pharmacology
  • Humans
  • Drug Carriers*/chemistry
  • Drug Liberation
PubMed
39870034 Full text @ Langmuir
Abstract
Ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate (VC-IP) is a novel form of ascorbic acid characterized by reduced water solubility due to complete acylation with palmitate. This study investigated the potential cosmetic application of VC-IP when encapsulated in lyotropic liquid crystal nanoparticles (VC-IP LCNPs) by using a high-pressure homogenization (HPH) method. The particle size, zeta potential, and polydispersity index (PDI) of the obtained VC-IP LCNPs were determined as 158.8 ± 3.2 nm, -35.1 ± 2.8 mV, and 0.12 ± 0.02, respectively. The drug loading (DL%) of the VC-IP LCNPs was approximately 35.1%. Morphological changes in LCNPs, transitioning from a sponge phase to vesicles, confirmed the successful loading of VC-IP, as demonstrated by transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-TEM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments. The sustained release of VC-IP was also observed through the Franz transdermal diffusion test, indicating that VC-IP LCNPs facilitated the sustained-release effect of VC-IP into the skin. VC-IP LCNPs exhibited good biocompatibility, showing nontoxicity to HaCaT cells and zebrafish embryos. Raman distribution imaging confirmed that VC-IP successfully penetrated the stratum corneum and reached the dermis. In assessments of whitening effects, VC-IP LCNPs significantly the reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) content in zebrafish and melanin areas in the heads of zebrafish. Furthermore, VC-IP LCNPs effectively inhibited tyrosinase activity and the proliferation of A375 cells compared with pure VC-IP. Additionally, VC-IP LCNPs significantly reduced the melanin area in the heads of zebrafish. Therefore, the developed VC-IP LCNPs present a promising carrier for the enhanced application of active ingredients, such as VC-IP in whitening products.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping