Topical Delivery of Retinyl Ascorbate Co-Drug

Chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis of the co-drug of retinoic acid (vitamin A) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) – retinyl ascorbate (RA-AsA) – have been studied. Firstly, the amount of protein and ester hydrolysis activity was determined in crude cellular extracts from freshly excised porcine ear skin (<3 h) and stored porcine ear skin (frozen >6 months) using ethyl butyrate as model substrate. The stability of RA-AsA was then determined in the crude cell extracts with and without additional antioxidants. Lastly, the enzymatic hydrolysis of RA-AsA and retinyl-2-carboxy-2-hydroxy-ethanoate were determined by incubating with porcine liver esterase – retinol palmitate and ascorbyl palmitate were included for comparison. Freshly excised skin contained higher amounts of active proteins than previously frozen skin. RA-AsA underwent hydrolytic reduction causing the AsA moiety to disintegrate due to the presence of free radicals in the media. An intermediate was produced that seemed to be cleaved by enzymes. Addition of ascorbic acid, as antioxidant, to the media of crude protein extracts decelerated the hydrolysis rate. This was supported when RA-AsA and retinyl-2-carboxy-2-hydroxy-ethanoate were incubated separately with pure esterase. There was ∼5-fold more soluble protein per ml of cytosol in the fresh skin compared to the stored skin. Therefore, the amount of protein present within ∼1.5 cm² of skin (average diffusion area in the Franz cells used in our skin penetration studies) was 0.06 mg cm^–2 and 0.01 mg cm^–2 for fresh and stored extracts, respectively.