1. Accepted Manuscript
Title: Improving the bioavailability of pharmacologically active substances in
pharmaceutical and cosmetic formulations
Author: Joachim Storsberg, Marcel W. Laughton, Martin Geyer, Mont
Kumpugdee-Vollrath, Christian Schmidt
PII: S1818-0876(15)00122-1
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/doi: 10.1016/j.ajps.2015.10.022
Reference: AJPS 184
To appear in: Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Please cite this article as: Joachim Storsberg, Marcel W. Laughton, Martin Geyer, Mont
Kumpugdee-Vollrath, Christian Schmidt, Improving the bioavailability of pharmacologically
active substances in pharmaceutical and cosmetic formulations, Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical
Sciences (2015), http://dx.doi.org/doi: 10.1016/j.ajps.2015.10.022.
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2. -IL16-
Improving the bioavailability of pharmacologically active substances in
pharmaceutical and cosmetic formulations
Joachim Storsberga,
*, Marcel W. Laughtona,b
, Martin Geyera,b
, Mont Kumpugdee -Vollrathb
,
Christian Schmidta
a
Fraunhofer Institute Applied Polymer Research (IAP), 14476 Potsdam, Germany
b
Beuth University Applied Sciences, 13353 Berlin, Germany
*E-mail: joachim.storsberg@iap.fraunhofer.de
One and the same active ingredient can be used in different pharmaceutical applications to treat and cure
diseases. Furthermore, the active ingredient can be used also in cosmetic formulations to care or aid the
healing process. When applied topically via creams or lotions, they are referred as cosmeceuticals. In general,
one aims to improve the bioavailability through tailored formulations and careful selection of components. An
example is the use of latanoprost in ophthalmology for lowering the intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients
with side effects including stimulated growth of eyelashes. Does this open up the possibility of using
latanoprost for the local treatment for hair loss?
Latanoprost, when applied topically, shows a stimulating effect on the growth of eyelashes [1] and could
serve as an agent against extensive hair loss. Hyaluronic acid is an active component which is selective used
against early skin aging [2]. The objective of this work was to establish surfactant stabilized cosmetic
formulations and create galenicals based on latanoprost and creams based on hyaluronic acid.
Tococpherol was incorporated into lecithin based liposomes. Tocopherol served as a model substance for
a lipophilic pharmacologically active ingredient. Using standard methods, such as thin-film hydration method,
followed by and ultrasound-assisted formation of liposomes [3], we created particles of the desired size range.
Hyaluronic acid was incorporated into various cream bases and viscosities were measured at varying
temperatures. Latanoprost based foam preparations were established and investigated with regard to foam
stability.
Aside from liposomes, charged polymers that are able to bind and/or ”complex” a drug are suitable for
improving drug delivery systems as well as for the generation of new pharmaceuticals and cosmeceuticals.
Keywords: Drug delivery; Bioavailability; Nano carriers; Cosmeceutical; Galenicals
Acknowledgements
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3. The authors acknowledge financial support from the Fraunhofer Society through the ICON project “Drug
Delivery”.
References
[1] Sugimoto M, Sugimoto M, Uji Y. Quantitative analysis of eyelash lengthening following topical latanoprost
therapy. Can J Ophthalmol 2002; 37:342-5
[2] Vetter L, Laughton MW, Schmidt C, Storsberg J. Anti-ageing creams, ingredients and their effects against
early skin ageing. SOFW J 2014; 140: 32-9 & SOFW J (English Edition) 2014; 140:34-9
[3] Schmidt C, Storsberg J. Nanomaterials—tools, technology and methodology of nanotechnology based
biomedical systems for diagnostics and therapy. Biomedicines 2015; 3:203-223.
Fig. 1. Figure left: Left upper panel: Artistic interpretation of a liposome-based drug carrier. Right upper panel:
Tissue treated with a polymer based immune-histological test. Tumor tissue is stained in brown color (specific
staining) with a blue counterstaining of the surrounding tissue (unspecific staining). Bottom panel: Phase
contrast photograph of exponentially growing carcinoma cells (HCT-116: size bar: 200µm). This figure was
previously published in ref. [3]. Figure right: Different phospholipids, used in liposome formulations.
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