Dual-functional transdermal drug delivery system with controllable drug loading based on thermosensitive poloxamer hydrogel for atopic dermatitis treatment.

Wenyi Wang,Ben Chan,Eric C W Wong,Patrick C L Hui,Huawen Hu,Clara B S Lau,Frency S F Ng,Ping-Chung Leung,Elaine Wat,Xiaowen Wang,Chi-Wai Kan

doi:10.1038/srep24112

Abstract

The treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD) has long been viewed as a problematic issue by the medical profession. Although a wide variety of complementary therapies have been introduced, they fail to combine the skin moisturizing and drug supply for AD patients. This study reports the development of a thermo-sensitive Poloxamer 407/Carboxymethyl cellulose sodium (P407/CMCs) composite hydrogel formulation with twin functions of moisture and drug supply for AD treatment. It was found that the presence of CMCs can appreciably improve the physical properties of P407 hydrogel, which makes it more suitable for tailored drug loading. The fabricated P407/CMCs composite hydrogel was also characterized in terms of surface morphology by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), rheological properties by a rheometer, release profile in vitro by dialysis method and cytotoxicity test. More importantly, the findings from transdermal drug delivery behavior revealed that P407/CMCs showed desirable percutaneous performance. Additionally, analysis of cytotoxicity test suggested that P407/CMCs composite hydrogel is a high-security therapy for clinical trials and thus exhibits a promising way to treat AD with skin moisturizing and medication.

Highlights

Therapeutic effects to some extent[22]
The presence of hydrophilic Carboxymethyl cellulose sodium (CMCs) can strengthen the hydrophilic chain of the system, thereby reducing the Sol-gel transition temperature (SGTT) (Fig. 3) and enhancing the storage modulus of P407/CMCs composite hydrogel
It can be concluded that P407/CMCs composite hydrogel is a high-security therapy for clinical use in atopic dermatitis (AD) treatment

Summary

Introduction

Therapeutic effects to some extent[22] For this purpose, wet-wrap dressing is considered a satisfactory alternative to functionalized textiles for moisturizing the skin and controlling the transepidermal moisture loss[23,24]. We are prompted to develop a transdermal drug delivery system with dual-functions, i.e., moisture and drug supply (Fig. 1), which may be used for development of functionalized textiles which can release the drug in a controlled manner. A high drug loading can be achieved by incorporating hydrophilic drugs into the micellar structures. Bioadhesive polymers such as cellulose derivatives are normally added to enhance the poor bioadhesive property of poloxamer-based hydrogels[35]. We hypothesize that the proposed dual-functions transdermal drug delivery system can be achieved via poloxamer-based hydrogel. The drug-loading hydrogel was sufficiently investigated in terms of gelation transition behavior, rheological property, in vitro drug release, percutaneous delivery behavior and cytotoxicity test, to provide the groundwork for clinical trials in AD treatment

Results

Discussion

Conclusion