this invention provides compositions and methods to enhance and regulate the delivery of topical agents . the compositions of this invention comprises a pharmaceutical agent or cosmetic active ingredient , hydrophilic polymer that has been hydrophobically modified , optionally a sugar , optionally , polyoxyalkylene alcohol or any combination thereof . the pharmaceutical active includes any drug , hydrophobic or hydrophilic in nature , that would be appropriate for topical use . the cosmetic active includes any ingredient appropriate for cosmetics , nutrients or skin conditioners . these compositions are also non - irritating to the skin . the pharmaceutical actives that can be used in the compositions of this invention , but not limited to , are antimicrobials , allergy inhibitors , anti - acne , analgesics , antitussives , antipruritics , anesthetics , antihistamines , anti - infective agents , inflammation inhibitors , anti - emetics , anticholinergics , vasoconstrictors , vasodilators , and wound healing promoters and the like . the cosmetic active ingredients that can be used in the compositions of this invention , but not limited to , are vitamins ( e . g ., vitamin b complex ; including thiamine , nicotinic acid , biotin , pantothenic acid , choline , riboflavin , vitamin b6 , vitamin b12 , pyridoxine , inositol , carnitine ; vitamins a , c , d , e , k and their derivatives , pro - vitamins ), amino acids and their derivatives , herbal extracts , retinoids , flavonoids , anti - oxidants , anti - inflammatory , skin conditioners , skin lighteners , chelating agents , cell turnover enhancers , coloring agents , fragrances , pigments and sunscreens and the like . preferably , the hydrophobically - modified hydrophilic polymeric emulsifiers used in the compositions of this invention are hydrophobically modified acrylic acids . such as akylacrylates and the esters . the akyl chain lengths ranges from c2 - c30 . sugars that can be used in the compositions of this invention may include , but are not limited to , glucose , oligosaccharides , more particularly disaccharides such as fructose , melibiose , xylose , sucrose , arbutin , maltose , glucosides glycosides and derivatives thereof and the like . sugars function in the compositions of this invention to enhance penetration of both hydrophobic and hydrophilic active ingredients . polyoxyethylene alcohols function in the compositions of this invention to enhance the penetration of hydrophilic active ingredients and can be used in the compositions of this invention . such polyoxyethylene alcohols include , but are not limited to : ceteths , laureths , myreths , oleths , steareths and trideths . one particularly preferred example is steareth - 10 or brij 76 made by ici surfactants of delaware , usa . the delivery system and active ingredients are incorporated in a pharmaceutically or cosmetically acceptable vehicle . preferably , the ph of the compositions of this invention should be from about 5 to about 9 , more preferably from about 5 to about 7 . of course , topical skin care agents known to those of ordinary skill in the art may be incorporated into the compositions of this invention , including mineral oils , animal oils , vegetable oils and silicones have all been used in cosmetic creams and lotions of the emulsion type . in addition to such oils , other emollients and surface active agents have been incorporated in the emulsions , including glyceryl trioleate , acetylated sucrose distearate , sorbitan trioleate , polyoxyethylene ( 1 ) monostearate , glycerol monooleate , sucrose distearate , polyethylene glycol ( 50 ) monostearate , octylphenoxypoly ( ethyleneoxy ) ethanol , deacylerin penta - isostearate , sorbitan sesquioleate , hydroxylated lanolin , lanolin , triglyceryl diisostearate , polyoxyethylene ( 2 ) oleyl ether , calcium stearoyl - 2 - lactylate , methyl glucoside sesquistearate , sorbitan monopalmitate , methoxy polyethylene glycol - 22 / dodecyl glycol copolymer ( elfacos e200 ), polyethylene glycol - 45 / dodecyl glycol copolymer ( elfacos st99 ), polyethylene glycol 400 distearate and glyceryl stearate ; alcohols , such as cetyl alcohol and lanolin alcohol ; myristates , such as isopropyl myristate ; cetyl palmitate ; cholesterol ; stearic acid ; propylene glycol ; glycerine , sorbitol and the like . thickeners such as natural gums and synthetic polymers , as well as preservatives such as methylparaben , butyl paraben , propylparaben and phenyoxyethanol , coloring agents and fragrances also are commonly included in such compositions . other active ingredients such as sunscreen materials and antimicrobial materials may be utilized in the compositions of the present invention provided that they are physically and chemically compatible with the other components of the compositions . the following examples illustrate , but do not serve to limit the scope of the compositions and methods of this invention . formulation a ( comparison formulation ): ingredient weight percent water 73 . 86 % thickeners 1 . 35 % chelating agent 0 . 10 % panthenol 0 . 50 % glycerine 3 . 00 % whitening agent 3 . 00 % ph adjustor 0 . 05 % c12 - 15 alkyl benzoate 4 . 00 % octyl hydroxy stearate 1 . 00 % dimethicone 1 . 00 % cetyl alcohol 2 . 50 % cetearyl glucoside 1 . 40 % tocopheryl acetate and 0 . 55 % tocopherol sunscreen 4 . 00 % preservative 1 . 25 % stabilizers 1 . 10 % retinol 0 . 04 % the following formulations b , c , d and e were made as set forth below : ingredient weight percent formulation b : water 78 . 04 % glycerin 3 . 00 % d panthenol 0 . 50 % disodium edta 0 . 10 % preservative 0 . 73 % preservative 0 . 35 % acrylates / c10 - 30 alkyl 0 . 25 % acrylate cross - polymer 0 . 40 % carbomer ascorbic acid 0 . 01 % dibutylhydroxy - toluene 0 . 10 % cetyl alcohol 2 . 00 % c 12 - 15 alkyl benzoate 4 . 00 % octyl hydroxy stearate 1 . 00 % dimethicone 1 . 00 % di - alpha tocopheryl acetate 0 . 50 % octyl methoxy - cinnamate 4 . 00 % propyl paraben 0 . 17 % na hydroxide ( 10 %) 2 . 60 % retinol 50c 0 . 20 % tocopherol 0 . 05 % thea sinesis extract 1 . 00 % formulation c : water 73 . 39 % glycerin 3 . 00 % d panthenol 0 . 50 % disodium edta 0 . 10 % ascorbic acid - 2g 2 . 00 % phenoxyethanol 0 . 73 % methyl paraben 0 . 35 % xanthan gum 0 . 20 % hydroxyethylcellulose 1 . 15 % ascorbic acid 0 . 01 % dibutylhydroxytoluene 0 . 10 % cetearyl glucoside 1 . 40 % cetyl alcohol 2 . 00 % c 12 - 15 alkyl benzoate 4 . 00 % octyl hydroxy stearate 1 . 00 % dimethicone 1 . 00 % di - alphatocopheryl 0 . 50 % acetate octyl methoxycinnamate 4 . 00 % propyl paraben 0 . 17 % na hydroxide ( 10 %) 2 . 45 % retinol 50c 0 . 20 % polyacrylamide & amp ; laureth 0 . 70 % 7 & amp ; c13 — c14 isoparafin tocopherol 0 . 05 % thea sinesis extract 1 . 00 % formulation d : water 72 . 82 % glycerin 3 . 00 % d panthenol 0 . 50 % disodium edta 0 . 10 % preservative 0 . 73 % preservative 0 . 35 % acrylates / c10 - 30 alkyl 0 . 25 % acrylate cross - polymer 1 . 00 % dimethicone cetyl alcohol 2 . 00 % di - alpha tocopheryl acetate 0 . 50 % octyl methoxycinnamate 4 . 00 % propyl paraben 0 . 17 % na hydroxide ( 18 %) 1 . 50 % retinol 50c 0 . 18 % ascorbic acid - 2g 6 . 35 % tocopherol 0 . 05 % thea sinesis 1 . 00 % extract formulation e : water 71 . 59 % glycerin 3 . 00 % d panthenol 0 . 50 % disodium edta 0 . 10 % ascorbic acid - 2g 2 . 00 % preservative 0 . 73 % preservative 0 . 35 % acrylates / c 10 - 30 alkyl 0 . 25 % acrylate cross - polymer 0 . 40 % carbomer ascorbic acid 0 . 01 % dibutylhydroxy - toluene 0 . 10 % steareth - 10 2 . 00 % cetyl alcohol 2 . 00 % c 12 - 15 alkyl benzoate 4 . 00 % octyl hydroxy stearate 1 . 00 % dimethicone 1 . 00 % di - alpha tocopheryl 0 . 50 % acetate octyl 4 . 00 % methoxycinnamate preservative 0 . 17 % na hydroxide ( 10 %) 5 . 05 % retinol 50c 0 . 20 % tocopherol 0 . 05 % thea sinesis extract 1 . 00 % formulation f : water 49 . 484 squalane 15 . 000 glycerin 10 . 000 macademia nut oil 7 . 000 pentaerythritol tetraoctanoate 5 . 000 butylene glycol 4 . 000 petrolatum 3 . 000 quaternium 18 hectorite 2 . 700 polyglyceryl - 2 - diisostearate 2 . 000 peg 150 1 . 000 retinol 0 . 166 trisodium edta 0 . 100 ascorbic acid 0 . 100 sodium citrate 0 . 100 tocopheryl acetate 0 . 100 preservative 0 . 100 preservative 0 . 100 butylated hydroxytoluene ( bht ) 0 . 050 formulation b was made by adding water to a beaker and overcharging the beaker with 20 grams of water . the water was then purged with argon or nitrogen gas . after 10 - 15 minutes , 20 grams of water was removed to check for oxygen content . if there was significant measurable oxygen in the sample , the purging was continued . once oxygen was purged from the water , glycerin , panthenol , disodium edta , a first preservative and ascorbic acid were added to the beaker . the acrylates / c10 - 30 alkyl acrylate and carbomer were then added to the water phase . the beaker was then transferred to a vacuum close kettle homogenizer under yellow lights and any residual oxygen removed . the beaker was then heated to 70 - 75 ° c . a second preservative was added and mixing continued until it dissolved . the water phase was then neutralized with naoh ( 10 %) and the temperature held at 70 - 75 ° c . for phasing . the remainder of the ingredients but for the retinol , tocopherol and thea sinesis extract were combined in a separate beaker and heated to 70 - 75 ° c . when both phases were at the same temperature and homogenous , the oil phase was added to the water phase under vacuum and homogenized together . the beaked was then cooled slowly . retinol was added when the temperature reached 55 ° c . and tocopherol and thea sinesis extract added at 45 ° c . formulation c was made in a similar manner , except that aa - 2g was added in addition to the ascorbic acid and , after the ascorbic acid was added , the xanthan gum , hydroxyethylene and glycerin were added to the water phase . formulation d was made similarly to formulation b . formulation e was made similarly to formulation c except that steareth 10 was added to the oil phase . formulation f was prepared by combining water , glycerin , peg150 , and butylene glycol in a beaker , and heating it to 75 ° c . at 75 ° c ., trisodium edta , ascorbic acid and sodium citrate was added . combining squalene , mac . nut oil , pentaerythritol tetraoctanoate , petrolatum , quaternium 18 hectoriate , polyglyceryl - 2 - diisostearate , and heating the mixture to 80 ° c . while mixing . at 80 ° c ., parabens and bht were added to the mixture . the water phase was added to oil phase slowly and the heated was stopped . at 50 ° c ., vitamin e acetate and retinol were added . the whole process should be under argon and yellow light conditions . experiments were conducted to determine the enhanced penetration and regulation effect of the delivery system . to determine transdermal penetration , in vitro skin permeation studies were conducted using non - occluded franz diffusion cells . human cadaver skin section were mounted in franz diffusion cells containing a receptor medium composed of a phosphate buffer with 0 . 025 % butylated hydroxytoluene and 1 . 5 % oleth - 20 . the receptor capacity was 5 milliliters ( ml ) and the cell surface area was 0 . 636 cm 2 . a 400 μm dose of one of the following formulations was applied to the diffusion cell . after 24 hours , the surface of the cells were cleansed with a solution of methanol and ethyl acetate . the epidermis and dermis were separated , chopped and placed into vials containing a solution methanol and ethyl acetate and subjected to sonication to fragment the skin . after sonication , the skin fragments were analyzed using hplc . samples were taken at zero and 24 - hour time - points . penetration of active ingredient was calculated based upon a percentage of applied dose . for these studies , the penetration of a lipophilic agent ( retinol and a hydrophilic agent ( ascorbic acid 2 - glucoside , or “ aa2g ”) were investigated . from the above data , it can be seen that a control formulation ( formulation a ) containing only cetearyl glucoside delivered only 0 . 175 % of the applied dose of retinol into the epidermis . surprisingly , however , when a formulation containing hydrophobically modified acrylic acid emulsifier was used ( formulation b ), the percentage of retinol delivered increased to 0 . 642 %, a 3 . 669 fold increase in delivery . when aa - 2g and cetearyl glucoside were placed into formulation with retinol ( formulation c ), the retinol permeation surprisingly increased to 0 . 241 %, a 1 . 38 - fold increase over the control formulation a . even more surprisingly , a formulation containing both hydrophobically modified acrylic acid and aa - 2g ( formulation d ), although an additive effect was expected , a total delivery of retinol of 1 . 26 % or a 7 . 2 fold increase in retinol delivery to the epidermis . the activity of formulation e demonstrates that the addition of a polyoxyethylene alcohol increased the penetration from 0 . 18 % to 1 . 016 %, or a 5 . 65 - fold increase of delivery of aa - 2g . surprisingly , the retinol permeation decreased from 1 . 25 % to 0 . 464 %, a 0 . 36 - fold decrease . thus , the compositions of this invention afford a method of regulating the delivery of both hydrophilic and lipophilic ingredients . those of ordinary skill in the art of formulating topical skin care compositions would expect an increase in skin irritation to accompany an increase in penetration of active ingredients . the compositions of this invention , however , were surprisingly non - irritating despite the improved penetration of active ingredients . a standard test for skin irritation , called the “ modified irritation study ” ( mis ) was used to evaluate the delivery system using retinol as the topical agent . this test measures the irritation potential of compositions in human volunteers . test formulations of this invention were applied to fifty test subjects three times per week for three weeks for a total of nine applications . an occlusive patch with 0 . 2 to 0 . 3 gm of each test composition was applied to the upper back of the human subject . the patches remained in place for an initial 24 hours . after 24 hours , the subject would remove the patch from the back . a 24 - hour rest period , during which no test material was applied , followed the removal of a monday and wednesday patch application . a 48 - hour rest period followed a saturday patch removal . after each rest period , the test areas were observed by a study coordinator and graded according to a scale of 0 to 4 . 0 . fresh test material and patches were applied to the identical test sites until nine induction patches were completed . the nine application scores for each test site for each subject were summed to yield a total score for 21 days . a grand total score for a test sample was obtained by adding the 21 - day totals for all subjects . the grand total scores were normalized against the positive control ( formulation f below ), which received a normalized score of 100 to obtain a normalized irritation score . the results of these tests are set forth in table 2 below . an increase in retinol penetration would generally be expected to result in higher skin irritancy , or a lower ratio of total retinol delivered : normalized irritation score . ratios of the amount of retinol delivered to the irritation score were calculated to compare the formulations , i . e ., they represent the amount of retinol delivered per each unit of irritation . as can be seen from the data set forth in table 2 , formulations a , b and c are all comparable to each other . formulation is a commercial product known to be mildly irritating . from these results with respect to formulations a , b and c , it would appear that neither the hydrophobically modified acrylic acid emulsifier nor the sugar have an effect upon irritation mitigation . however , surprisingly , formulation d evidences a dramatic increase in retinol delivery per unit of irritation and , therefore , is considerably less irritating than formulations a , b and c . we would also expect that the therapeutic index of formulation d would be greater than that of formulations a , b or c in light of the increased amount of retinol delivered at a lower extent of irritation . we conclude that the irritation mitigation effect is unexpectedly greater in compositions containing both hydrophobically modified acrylic acid and sugar . delivery of hydrophilic active ingredients using the compositions of this invention and the concomitant irritation mitigation effect may be seen exemplified below in table 3 . as set forth above in table 3 , one unit of irritation results in the delivery of 0 . 05 % aa - 2g . with the addition of a polyoxyethylene alcohol , however , this number unexpectedly increases to 0 . 23 %, meaning that more aa - 2g is delivered to the skin with a lower irritation , generating a greater efficacy or therapeutic index . the compositions of this invention may be made by traditional preparation method . the following table 4 illustrates compositions of this invention which we believe would serve to enhance the delivery of hydrophobic and hydrophilic active ingredients to the epidermis and dermis of the skin with relatively low levels of irritation .
this invention relates to compositions and methods for enhancing the penetration of topical skin agents into the skin wherein said compositions contain at least one active ingredient , a skin conditioner and a polymeric emulsifier .