Background: Cellulite is a physiological condition that presents etiologic plurality. Caffeine and its derivatives are used in anticellulite cosmetics due to their lipolytic activity on fatty cells. Siloxanetriol alginate caffeine (SAC) is a silanol derived from organic silicon. Radicals primarily from SAC are caffeine and the mannuronic acid.
Aims: This study aims to analyze the effects of caffeine and siloxanetriol alginate caffeine on fatty tissue by histological evaluation.
Methods: Formulations were developed with caffeine, caffeine + sodium benzoate or SAC and were applied topically for 21 days on Wistar female mice. The study regarded the histological aspects by determination of diameter and number of fatty cells with a light microscope.
Results: Emulsion with caffeine caused a reduction of 17% on the diameter of the fatty cells compared with the control. The emulsion with caffeine + sodium benzoate did not cause alterations on cell diameter. Emulsion with SAC provoked reduction on fatty cell diameters of 16%. No significant alterations were observed on the diameter of the fatty cells treated with gels, although it was noticed that gel with SAC promoted a reduction of 26% on the number of fatty cells.
Conclusions: Emulsion with SAC was considered more indicated to promote the lipolytic action on fatty tissue, acting as a complement to treat cellulite. When sodium benzoate was added to the preparations, it inhibited the caffeine efficiency. Gel was not an adequate vehicle to be incorporated with caffeine and SAC.