Estradiol, the most important hormone in females, was complexed with hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP-beta-CD) and randomly methylated beta-cyclodextrin (RM-b-CD). After obtaining the inclusion complexes, they were characterized by DSC, ¹H-NMR and solubility studies. The enhancing effect of CDs on estradiol skin permeation/retention was investigated in vitro using Franz diffusion cells. Both CDs increased estradiol aqueous solubility, but in different proportions. DSC and NMR-H¹ analyses showed that estradiol was complexed with both CDs and RM-beta-CD has stronger interactions with the hormone than HP-beta-CD. Moreover, complexes formation increased estradiol flux through the skin (P<0.01), but the hormone retention in the stratum corneum (SC) only increased after complexation with HP-beta-CD. On the other hand, only RM-b-CD was able to modify estradiol retention in the SC after skin pretreatment with CDs. The results suggest that the enhancing effect of CDs on estradiol flux through the skin may be mainly described as an increase in drug availability on the skin surface due to inclusion complexation. Furthermore, the formation of a significant reservoir of estradiol in the SC due to HP-beta-CD complexation makes it an interesting approach for estradiol transdermal delivery.
Estradiol; Hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin; Methylated-beta-cyclodextrin; Inclusion complexation; Skin permeation; Absorption enhancer
