Development of delivery systems for topical passive and iontophoretic administration of minoxidil in androgenic alopecia treatment

Abstract

The androgenetic alopecia is the most common reason of hair loss in humans and affects at least 50% of adult males older than 40 years old. Although it is more likely to affect men, the alopecia can also happen to women, beginning with a thinning throughout temporal area and increasing through time. Many treatments have been employed to treat the androgenetic alopecia at the last 20 years. One of the most used and studied therapy is the application of topical solutions of minoxidil, which is a pirimidinium derivative, primarily introduced in the early 1970’s. In this work, one intends to obtain and characterize formulations containing minoxidil sulphate as an attempt to control and drive its topical release to the hair follicle. Two different methods will be studied on this pursuit: the development of microparticulated systems and the application of a weak electric current, the iontophoresis. The passive and iontophoretic delivery of the minoxidil sulphate from the developed formulations will be verified in vitro, using “Franz” diffusion cells and skin of pork ear, and in vivo in animal model.