Transdermal Film-Loaded Finasteride Microplates to Enhance Drug Skin Permeation: Two-Step Optimization Study

A peptide-based delivery system for finasteride shows promise in reducing systemic side effects while maintaining hair growth effectiveness. Combining this with other treatments like minoxidil and RU58841 could enhance results with lower systemic absorption.

Topical finasteride concentrations are likely much higher than necessary for effective follicular DHT suppression, with current standards being 100-1000 times above the theoretical minimum. Lower concentrations (0.001-0.0025%) might still work locally while minimizing systemic exposure.

The conversation discusses using very low dose topical finasteride to achieve specific serum DHT reduction percentages. It concludes that finasteride dosage increases linearly between 5-30% DHT reduction but requires exponential increases for reductions up to 70%.

Topical finasteride in a liposomal formulation reduces systemic absorption compared to ethanol solutions. The user is seeking sources for such products, noting that popular options like morr-f are not liposomal.

Topical finasteride may have higher systemic absorption and lower efficacy when using a Propylene Glycol/Ethanol formulation compared to the hydroxypropyl chitosan (HPCH) formulation. The safety profile of topical finasteride relies heavily on the HPCH formulation, and using standard solutions might lead to different pharmacokinetics.

The user is using 0.1% dutasteride, 1% minoxidil with 2% procapil and 0.005% caffeine in the morning, and 1% minoxidil with 2% procapil and 0.01% tretinoin at night. They are concerned about the solution vehicle's effectiveness in preventing systemic absorption and ensuring the products stay around the hair follicles.