Chitosan-based films containing nanoemulsions of methyl salicylate: Formulation development, physical-chemical and in vitro drug release characterization.

Transdermal patches for analgesic purposes are widely used, however, their occlusive characteristics can often cause allergic reactions, irritating contact dermatitis, and allergic contact dermatitis upon extended use. Chitosan is a natural positively charged bioadhesive polysaccharide with several biological properties, being promising templates for sustained and controlled topical or transdermal drug delivery. Methyl salicylate (MS) is a non-steroidal topical anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). MS is a lipophilic oily drug commonly found in transdermal patches, being difficult to incorporate into hydrophilic formulations such as Chitosan-based films. Thus, MS is a good candidate to be encapsulated into nanoemulsions (NE). This work reports the formulation development, physical-chemical characterization, and in vitro drug release of NE-loaded Chitosan films formulated with MS, as a novel substitute for transdermal analgesic patches. MS was encapsulated into NE, which were prepared by ultrasonication and presented 29.3 nm ± 0.1 and PdI 0.167 ± 0.005. The incorporation of MS into NE prevented phase separation and provided a homogeneous physical blending formulation, as confirmed by FTIR, TGA. NE-loaded films provided high drug incorporation in the films 94.08% ± 6.63%), and a smaller crystallinity degree in comparison with physical mixture films, suggesting a plasticizing effect of nano-sized droplets. Besides, mean weight, thickness, and moisture content were increased in NE-loaded films in comparison with chitosan-based control films. In vitro drug release from NE-loaded films was significantly higher than for physical mixture films, following Weibull and Korsmeyer-Peppas release kinetics models. The results suggest that NE-loaded chitosan film can increase the drug loading capacity of oil drugs and successfully control in vitro release, constituting a novel approach for transdermal drug delivery of NSAIDs.