Abstract

Although palmitoyl lysine threonine threonine lysine serine is claimed to be a useful bioactive peptide molecule to arrest skin aging, literature on transdermal permeation and retention of the peptide has rarely been reported. Aim of this study was to investigate the effect of partially hydrolyzed ginsenoside on transdermal permeation and retention of palmitoyl lysine threonine threonine lysine serine loaded liquid crystalline nanoparticles. Palmitoyl lysine threonine threonine lysine serine was loaded onto liquid crystalline nanoparticles using a hot melting and sonication method. Particle size of the liquid crystalline nanoparticles was reduced to <300 nm after addition of partially hydrolyzed ginsenoside into the constitution of the liquid crystalline nanoparticles and the polydispersity index indicated a monodisperse state. Transmission electron microscopy showed multilayered spherical liquid crystalline nanoparticles with dense core and corona like surface. Franz diffusion cell study demonstrated that skin permeation of palmitoyl lysine threonine threonine lysine serine was significantly increased when loaded onto liquid crystalline nanoparticles comprising partially hydrolyzed ginsenoside (p<0.01), and that this was proportional to the amount of the ginsenoside added. The steady state flux of palmitoyl lysine threonine threonine lysine serine in liquid crystalline nanoparticles comprising 2.84 % ginsenoside increased 4.60 fold and 2.36 fold compared to that of control (solubilized in propylene glycol) and liquid crystalline nanoparticles without ginsenoside, respectively. Partially hydrolyzed ginsenoside may be useful as a novel material to improve skin permeation of peptide molecules suffering from low transdermal absorption.