Hibiscus rosa-sinensis mucilage and its transdermal drug delivery profiles through skin barrier

Transdermal drug delivery system is whereby upon applying on the skin, drug will permeate and reach systemic circulation while bypassing the hepatic metabolism. The major problem in transdermal drug delivery system is percutaneous absorption of drug is hindered by thick layer ofkeratinized stratum comeum. As such, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (HR) leaves mucilage was investigated as penetration enhancer to promote drug permeation across the skin barrier. HR mucilage was extracted by cold maceration method and was brought to skin permeation study using vertical diffusion cells at different concentration together with sulfanilamide as hydrophilic model drug. HPLC analysis of sulfanilamide was carried out and percentage of drug permeation was calculated. Based on finding, HR mucilage was not able to enhance drug permeation of sulfanilamide through skin. This could be due to the physicochemical properties of both HR mucilage and skin. HR mucilage showed a promising entity in the development of controlled release formulation, as well as topical medicine for skin disease that requires long-term treatment such as skin cancer and psoriasis.