Nanotech for transdermal sildenafil (Viagra)

Writing in the International Journal of Nanotechnology, the team describes tests on different formulations for sildenafil citrate transdermal nanocarriers as the delivery agent on human skin rather than the user having to swallow a pill. The benefits of such nanocarriers are that the drug gets into the bloodstream through the skin much more quickly than having to be ingested. Moreover, 70% of an oral dose of sildenafil citrate is wasted as it is metabolized by the liver without having any effect. Improved delivery via the transdermal route would avoid several side-effects as well as making onset of activity much quicker.

Pharmaceutical scientist Yosra S.R. Elnaggar of Alexandria University and professors there and at Alexandria and Pharos University, explain how previous attempts to create a Viagra transdermal application have been hampered by the properties of the drug itself. The drug has low oil and water solubility and is loathe to cross membranes, such as human skin, because of this. However, it is possible to encapsulate the drug in nanoemulsion based systems that can cross membranes readily. As such, the team has investigated two types of nanocarriers made using fat-like lipid molecules -- the first made by forming an emulsion with the drug using a surfactant compound to allow the lipid molecules and drug to mix, much as soap will emulsify oil and water. The second option is a self-emulsifying nanocarrier that has its own inbuilt surfactant.

The team demonstrated in the laboratory that both formulations would have benefits for oral drug delivery, whereas only the nano-emulsion, rather than the self-emulsifying formulation, shows promise for a Viagra patch, in other words.