Formulation and Evaluation of Repurposed Ketoconazole-Loaded Transferosomal Gel for Enhanced Trichogenic Effects

April 2025 in “ Clinical and Translational Discovery ”

Monu Mishra, Ganesh A. Thakur, Pallavi Bassi, Gurpreet Kaur, Thakur Gurjeet Singh, Narinderpal Kaur, Ling Shing Wong, Satyanarayana Reddy, Gowtham Kuppusamy, Vinoth Kumarasamy, Gaurav Gupta, Vetriselvan Subramaniyan

ketoconazole transferosomal gel androgenic alopecia trichogenic effects Quality by Design particle size entrapment efficiency in vivo studies hair growth skin permeability sustained drug release Nizoral AGA

Studysummary In this study, ketoconazole-loaded transferosomes were developed and demonstrated improved hair growth compared to a commercially available ketoconazole product, with the formulation showing enhanced drug penetration and minimal skin irritation in vivo. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.

The study developed a ketoconazole-loaded transferosomal gel to enhance hair growth and skin permeability for treating androgenic alopecia (AGA). Using a Quality by Design approach, the formulation was optimized for critical attributes like particle size and entrapment efficiency. In vivo studies on 12 male albino rats showed improved hair growth with the ketoconazole-loaded gel compared to control groups over 27 days, with no significant skin irritation. The gel demonstrated superior hair growth efficacy and sustained drug release compared to a marketed formulation, suggesting it as a promising alternative treatment for AGA.

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