A new eco-friendly and water-resistant sunscreen agent: Lecithin-based multilamellar liposomes.

Background: UV skin exposure is an important matter of public health, as the worldwide rising prevalence of skin cancers indicates. However, a wide majority of commercially available sunscreens are responsible for ocean ecosystem damages such as coral reef degradation and phytoplankton mortality.

Aims: To answer the urge for new eco-friendly UV filters, we studied the use of lecithin-based multilamellar liposomes (MLLs) of controlled size and elasticity as a bio-sourced and biodegradable alternative to classic sunscreens.

Prediction of the penetration depth of multi-lamellar liposomes in artificial skin. Application to the vectorization of corticosteroid in human skin.

Our previous work showed that the size, elasticity and charge of multi-lamellar liposomes (MLLs) could not be considered separately to predict the fate of MLLs in the skin [1]. Based on this study, we developed several MLLs formulations containing a corticosteroid, betamethasone 17-valerate (B17) to transport the drug into the stratum corneum, living epidermis, dermis or through the skin. MLLs encapsulation efficiency was found to exceed 74 ± 3 % in all cases.

Transport of hydrocortisone in targeted layers of the skin by multi-lamellar liposomes.

Hydrocortisone (HyC), a hydrophobic pharmaceutical active, was encapsulated in multi-lamellar liposomes (MLLs) composed of P100, a mixture of phospholipids, and Tween®80. Three different HyC-loaded formulations were designed to target the , the living epidermis and the hypodermis. The impact of encapsulation on their size, elasticity and zeta potential, the three key factors controlling MLLs skin penetration, was studied.