The effect of vehicles and pressure sensitive adhesives on the percutaneous absorption of quercetin through the hairless mouse skin

To investigate the feasibility of developing a new quercetin transdermal system, a preformulation study was carried out. Therefore, the effects of vehicles and pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSA) on the in vitro permeation of quercetin across dorsal hairless mouse skin were studied. Among vehicles used, propylene glycol monocaprylate (PGMC) and propylene glycol monolaurate were found to have relatively high permeation flux from solution formulation (i.e., the permeation fluxes were 17.25±1.96 and 9.60±3.87 μg/cm ²/h, respectively). The release rate from PSA formulations followed a matrix-controlled diffusion model and was mainly affected by the amount of PSA and drug loaded. The overall permeation fluxes from PSA formulations were less than 0.30 μg/cm²/h, which were significantly lower compared to those obtained from solution formulations. The lower permeation fluxes may be due to the decrease of solubility and diffusivity of quercetin in the PSA layer, considering the fact that the highest flux of 0.26 μg/cm²/h was obtained with the addition of 0.2% butylated hydroxyanisole in PGMC-diethylene glycol monoethyl ether co-solvents (80-85 : 15-20, v/v). Taken together, these observations indicate that improvement in the solubility and diffusivity of quercetin is necessary to realize fully the clinically applicable transdermal delivery system for the drug.