Histological assessment of follicular delivery of flutamide by solid lipid nanoparticles: potential tool for the treatment of androgenic alopecia.

CONTEXT: Flutamide is a potent anti-androgen with the several unwanted side effects in systemic administration, therefore, it has attracted special interest in the development of topically applied formulations for the treatment of androgenic alopecia. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to prepare and characterize the solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) of Flutamide for follicular targeting in the treatment of the androgenic alopecia. METHODS: Flutamide-loaded SLNs, promising drug carriers for topical application were prepared by hot melt homogenization method. Drug permeation and accumulation in the exercised rat skin and histological study on the male hamsters were performed to assess drug delivery efficiency in vitro and in vivo, respectively. RESULTS: The optimized Flutamide-loaded SLNs (size 198 nm, encapsulation efficiency percentage 65% and loading efficiency percentage 3.27%) exhibited a good stability during the period of at least 2 months. The results of X-ray diffraction showed Flutamide amorphous state confirming uniform drug dispersion in the SLNs structure. Higher skin drug deposition (1.75 times) of SLN formulation compared to Flutamide hydroalcoholic solution represented better localization of the drug in the skin. The in vivo studies showed more new hair follicle growth by utilizing Flutamide-loaded SLNs than Flutamide hydroalcoholic solution which could be due to the higher accumulation of SLNs in the hair follicles as well as slowly and continues release of the Flutamide through the SLNs maximizing hair follicle exposure by antiandrogenic drug. CONCLUSION: It was concluded Flutamide-loaded SLN formulation can be used as a promising colloidal drug carriers for topical administration of Flutamide in the treatment of androgenic alopecia.

Box-Behnken study design for optimization of bicalutamide-loaded nanostructured lipid carrier: stability assessment.

Bicalutamide (BCM) is an anti-androgen drug used to treat prostate cancer. In this study, nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) were chosen as a carrier for delivery of BCM using Box-Behnken (BB) design for optimizing various quality attributes such as particle size and entrapment efficiency which is very critical for efficient drug delivery and high therapeutic efficacy. Stability of formulated NLCs was assessed with respect to storage stability, pH stability, hemolysis, protein stability, serum protein stability and accelerated stability. Hot high-pressure homogenizer was utilized for formulation of BCM-loaded NLCs. In BB response surface methodology, total lipid, % liquid lipid and % soya lecithin was selected as independent variable and particle size and %EE as dependent variables. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was done for morphological study of NLCs. Differential scanning calorimeter and X-ray diffraction study were used to study crystalline and amorphous behavior. Analysis of design space showed that process was robust with the particle size less than 200 nm and EE up to 78%. Results of stability studies showed stability of carrier in various storage conditions and in different pH condition. From all the above study, it can be concluded that NLCs may be suitable carrier for the delivery of BCM with respect to stability and quality attributes.

Synthesis, antiproliferative activity, acute toxicity and assessment of the antiandrogenic activities of new androstane derivatives.

A number of 17-oxo-5-androsten-3ß-yl esters (9a-9f) and 3ß-alkoxy-5-androsten-17-ones (11a-11e) were synthesized from commercially available (25R)-5-spirosten-3ß-ol (Diosgenin) (4) as starting material. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their antiproliferative activity against the prostate-specific cancer cell line DU-145, acute toxicity and effect on serum androgen levels, and compared with finasteride as positive control. Some of the compounds exhibited better cytotoxicity and antiandrogenic activity than the reference control. The detailed synthesis, spectroscopic data and biological activity of the synthesized compounds are reported.

Synthesis, antiproliferative, acute toxicity and assessment of antiandrogenic activities of some newly synthesized steroidal lactams.

The 17-oxo-17a-aza-d-homo-5-androsten-3beta-yl esters (13-22) were synthesized from commercially available (25R)-5-spirosten-3beta-ol (Diosgenin) (6) as starting material. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their antiproliferative activity, acute toxicity and effect on serum androgen level and were compared with Finasteride as positive controls. Some of the compounds exhibited better cytotoxicity and antiandrogenic activity than the reference control. The detailed synthesis, spectroscopic data and pharmacological screening for the synthesized compounds were reported.