. 2020 Nov 19;15:9197–9210. doi: 10.2147/IJN.S237508

Table 2.

Summary of the Main Features of Nanovesicles in Use or Under Development for Acne Treatment

Nanocarriers	Composition/Description	Advantages	Disadvantages	Some Delivered Anti-Acne Active Ingredients
Liposomes^24–26^,^28–30^,^34–38^,^40–43^,⁵⁰	Spherical vesicles, characterized by a phospholipid bilayer (made of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine, hydrogenated soya lecithin, fatty alcohol polyglycol ether, cholesterol, dicetylphosphate) and an aqueous core	Controlled drug release; decreased skin irritation; reduced side effects of free drug; formulation versatility; increased drug solubilization; drug protection from light and oxygen	Poor stability due to lipid peroxidation and accumulation in the upper skin layers; limited permeation through skin	Clindamycin; retinoic acid; benzoyl peroxide; tea tree oil
Niosomes²²^,^44–48^,⁵⁰^,⁵¹	Vesicles containing non-ionic surfactant bilayer (such as cetyl alcohol, decyl glucoside, Brij, polysorbates, spans, poloxamers, alkyl polyglucoside surfactants) enclosing an aqueous cavity	Greater vesicle stability; non-toxic nature and lower cost than liposomes; improved drug permeation through the stratum corneum and higher skin retention	Inability to reach the deeper skin layers	Retinoic acid; terazotene
Etho³⁰^,⁵⁰^,^52–55^,^69–72	Elastic nanosystems containing phospholipids, high amount of ethanol, and water	Excellent flexibility; ability to passage through stratum corneum; high loading capacity for lipophilic drugs; relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture	Skin irritation due to high concentration of alcohol and poor skin penetration	Azelaic acid
Ultraderformable vesicles¹⁸^,⁴⁹^,⁵²^,^56–62^,⁶⁴–-⁶⁸	Deformable vesicles due to the presence of edge activator (such as sodium cholate, sodium deoxycholate, Span 80, Tween 80 and dipotassium glycyrrhizinate)	High deformability; ability to destabilize skin lipid organization; increased permeation into the deeper skin layers	Mechanism of action is still not clear; conflicting information on their ability to reach the systemic circulation	Adapalene; benzoyl peroxide; retinoic acid; photosensitizer
LeciPlex³¹^,⁷³	Vesicular nanocarrier containing a combination of phospholipids and cationic surfactants (such as didodecyldimethyl ammonium bromide, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide)	Enhanced skin deposition	Few studies on human skin have been performed	Azelaic acid
Invasomes³¹^,⁵⁰^,⁵²^,⁷³	Flexible carriers made of phosphatidylcholine, terpenes (such as limonene, cineole, fenchone, citral) and ethanol	Enhanced drug percutaneous permeation, thus guaranteeing faster activity	Irritation and toxicity may occur as a function of the used penetration enhancers. Mechanism of skin permeation not completely clear; few available studies	Dapsone; azelaic acid; curcumin

Note: Data from references.⁶^,¹¹^,¹³^,¹⁸^,³⁰^,⁶²