Ciclopirox olamine is an antifungal drug for treatment of cutaneous candidiasis infections. However its oral administration is associated with number of drawbacks. The goal of the current investigation is to evaluate the transdermal potential of novel vesicular carrier, ethosomes, bearing ciclopirox olamine an antifungal having limited transdermal permeation. Ciclopirox olamine loaded ethosomes were prepared, optimized and characterized for vesicular shape and surface morphology, vesicular size, size distribution, entrapment efficiency, vesicles skin interaction and stability. The ethosomal formulation (E9) having 3% phospholipids content and 45% ethanol showing the greatest entrapment (72.81±3.5%) and size range (152±11) was selected for further transdermal permeation studies. Stability study was performed for 120 days, which revealed low aggregation and growth in vesicular size (8.5±0.9%). Skin entrapment efficiency assessed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) which revealed that enhanced permeation in the deeper layer of the skin (168 μm). The formulation retained its permeation power after storage. Vesicle skin interaction study also showed that there was no interaction between the formulation and rat skin. Further more ethosomal delivery system could be considered for the treatment of number of dermal infections with better efficiency.
