Design, Characterization, and Wound-Healing Evaluation of Sodium Humate Transferosome-Loaded Alginate/HPMC Dermal Patches

<b>Background</b>/<b>Objectives:</b> For successful wound management, dressings must be maintained in a moist environment to optimally enhance the microenvironment of the wound and efficiently deliver bioactive agents. Sodium humate has demonstrated potential wound-healing activity, although its topical delivery is still a challenge. This study aimed to develop and optimize polysaccharide-based dermal patches incorporating sodium-humate-loaded transferosomes and to assess their physicochemical and wound-healing properties. <b>Methods:</b> Transferosomes were obtained via thin-film hydration and prepared utilizing the Taguchi experimental design based on the impact of lipid content, lipid-to-surfactant ratio, and lipid-to-drug ratio on vesicle size, ζ-potential, and drug entrapment efficiency. The optimized transferosomes were loaded into alginate/HPMC composite dermal patches prepared through solvent evaporation. <b>Results:</b> The optimized transferosome formulation had an average size of 250.9 ± 2.3 nm, a ζ-potential of -3.57 ± 0.25, a high deformability of 93.01 ± 2.41%, and an effective drug-entrapment efficiency of 30.13 ± 1.04%. The use of transferosomes greatly affected patch thickness, moisture content, and surface morphology. A biphasic drug release profile of sodium humate was demonstrated via an in vitro release study, showing an initial burst followed by sustained drug release within 6 h. In vivo evaluation of transferosome-loaded patches showed that the formulations were able to effectively promote wound healing compared with the control. <b>Conclusions:</b> The developed transferosome-embedded alginate/HPMC dermal patches constitute a promising platform for the controlled topical administration of sodium humate and show promising enhancement of wound healing.