The Distinctive Role of Gluconic Acid in Retarding Percutaneous Drug Permeation: Formulation of Lidocaine-Loaded Chitosan Nanoparticles

The objective of the present investigation was to evidence the skin retardation phenomenon of lidocaine by gluconic acid as an inactive ingredient involved in citrate-crosslinking chitosan nanoparticles. Lidocaine hydrochloride was loaded in nanoparticles based on chitosan, fabricated by using a water-in-oil microemulsion as a template and citric acid as an ionic cross-linker. Gluconic acid (pentahydroxy hexanoic acid) was added during the fabrication and compared with caproic acid, a non-hydroxy hexanoic acid. The chitosan nanoparticulate systems were characterized for mean particle size, particle size distribution, and zeta potential. The pentahydroxy hexanoic acid decreased the zeta potential to a significantly lower value than those obtained from both plain citrate and citrate–hexanoic acid formulations. The relatively lower value implies that gluconate ions are partly attached to the nanoparticle’s surface and mask its positively charged groups. It was also noted that the in vitro percutaneous permeation flux of lidocaine significantly decreased when gluconate-containing chitosan nanoparticles were applied, i.e., 6.1 ± 1.5 μg‧cm⁻²‧h⁻¹ without gluconic acid to 3.4 ± 2.3 μg‧cm⁻²‧h⁻¹ with gluconic acid. According to this result, it is suggested that gluconate ions played a role in retarding drug permeation through the skin, probably by calcium chelation in the stratum granulosum, which in turn stimulated lamellar body secretion, lipid synthesis, and intracellular release of Ca²⁺ from the endoplasmic reticulum.