Investigating the skin penetration and wound healing properties of niosomal pentoxifylline cream

Wounds are defined as any injuries to the skin. Wounds can cause great inconvenience and health problems for the patients depending on the healing time and severity. This makes wound healing and the strategies to treat a wound or reduce their treatment time, an important concern in health care systems. Pentoxifylline (PTX) has been reported to facilitate the wound healing in systemic administration. Different cellular and immunological mechanisms have been reported and suggested regarding the promising effects of PTX. On the other hand, the topical application of PTX seems to improve its therapeutic efficiency by localizing the drug on the wound site. In this study, PTX-niosomes were prepared and characterized. Niosomes with Zavg of 150, 200, and 300 nm were incorporated into the base cold cream. In-vitro release of PTX from these formulations was obtained between 70 -100%. Ex-vivo penetration/retention studies showed that niosomal formulations (F6 and F7) increased penetration of PTX by 1.8 and 1.2 times, respectively in comparison with the PTX-conventional cream. Retention of PTX from both niosomal creams was about 2 times higher than the PTX-conventional cream. In -vivo studies on the full-thickness wound in BALB/c mice showed that PTX-niosomal creams shortened the duration of wound healing by two days compared to control groups (PTX-conventional cream, base cream, and no treatment). The final wound size in the niosomal cream-treated group was also significantly smaller than the control groups. Histological analysis of the wounds confirmed the results of in-vivo studies.