Development and evaluation of the novel chitosan-based 1% clindamycin & 2.5% benzoyl peroxide transferosomal gel for topical acne treatment

Clindamycin combined with benzoyl peroxide is commonly used topically for the treatment of acne. Furthermore, current topical formulations for acne often exhibit significant problems including limited penetration, dryness, and irritation. Therefore, we have developed a novel chitosan-based 1% clindamycin & 2.5% benzoyl peroxide transferosomal gel to enhance penetration and mitigate the issues of currently marketed formulations. We investigated the efficacy of chitosan-based transferosomal gel as a drug delivery system for clindamycin and benzoyl peroxide for the treatment of acne. Transferosomal gel effectively encapsulated clindamycin and benzoyl peroxide with the entrapment efficiency of optimized formulation (FT-2) being 81%. Skin deposition study of the developed novel formulation was conducted using BALB/c mice skin. Subsequently, the skin permeation study was performed through the skin of BALB/c mice and was evaluated using Franz diffusion cells which were then compared with the commercial formulation, Percolin 2.5% gel. Furthermore, a model of Propionibacterium acneinduced acne in BALB/c mice was used to assess the in vivo effectiveness of the developed transferosomal gel. Additionally, we also performed the skin irritation test on BALB/c mice. The results showed that prepared chitosan-based 1% clindamycin and 2.5% benzoyl peroxide transferosomal gel provided a significant (p < 0.0001) decrease in acne diameter after 20 days of treatment compared to the disease control group and marketed gel-treated group, showing the enhanced efficacy of the prepared novel formulation compared to standard treatment. Thus, the prepared formulation provided an effective carrier system for the delivery of drugs to the epidermis and hair follicles. Additionally, the prepared formulation was effective with no skin irritation for the treatment of acne.