Does the delivery system impact transdermal delivery of cannabidiol under electrical stimulation?

Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive cannabis-derived drug, has numerous pharmacological activities with therapeutic potential1-2. However, its oral administration results in low bioavailability3,4. This work aimed to investigate the influence of iontophoresis on transdermal CBD release. Micelles and lipid nanocarriers (LNC) were developed to enable iontophoresis application. CBD permeation was evaluated in vitro in pig skin by passive and iontophoretic (0.5 mA/cm2) delivery. CBD-loaded LNC showed particle size, polydispersity (PDI) and zeta potential of 173±20 nm, 0.19±0,02 and 37.3±0.6 mV, respectively, while micelles presented 59±4 nm, PDI 0.2±0.1 and 11±3 mV. Anodic iontophoresis of micelles and LNC increased CBD permeation by 2,2 and 3,4 times, respectively, compared with passive delivery of the same formulation. However, due to the greater contribution of micelles to passive permeation, 4 times more CBD permeated the skin after micelles than LNC iontophoresis. Therefore, micelles seem to be a potent delivery system for transdermal delivery of CBD.