ABSTRACT
Bacterial nanocellulose has been widely investigated for wound healing applications, mainly due to its moisturizing capabilities and biocompatibility. Even though the topical therapy of nail diseases could benefit from these properties, this application has not yet been investigated. Therefore, actively hydrating nail patches based on bacterial nanocellulose were developed to improve the delivery of ciclopirox olamine and Boswellia serrata extract through the nail plate. The nanocellulose matrix was used to enable the application of hydration enhancing solutions based on glycerol and urea as a mechanically stable patch. While the favorable mechanical characteristics of the material remained unchanged, an increase of the incorporated glycerol concentration enhanced the transparency and wetting capacity of the patches. A biphasic drug release from the patches could be observed for drug and extract with a faster release for the hydrophilic ciclopirox olamine. High glycerol concentrations correlated with increased cumulative release and permeation through keratin films for drug and extract, demonstrating the hydration driven permeation enhancement. Patches containing ciclopirox olamine showed strong antimycotic effects against relevant pathogens for onychomycosis. The present finding proposed the combination of bacterial nanocellulose with glycerol, urea and different drug as a promising platform for the local treatment of nail diseases.
Subject(s)
Nail Diseases , Onychomycosis , Humans , Ciclopirox/pharmacology , Ciclopirox/therapeutic use , Antifungal Agents , Glycerol , Pyridones , Onychomycosis/drug therapy , Nails , Nail Diseases/drug therapy , Administration, Topical , Excipients/pharmacology , Urea , Plant Extracts/pharmacologyABSTRACT
The synergy of the local delivery of nucleic acids using a hydrogel-based gene activated matrix (GAM) might support regenerative processes on a genetic level by concurrently providing a cell-friendly microenvironment. To investigate bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) as GAM, two plasmids (pSV-ß-Gal and pGL3) were incorporated by reswelling and injection techniques forming matrix and core-shell systems as determined by SEM and staining experiments. The release was found to be dependent on the type of BNC, the plasmid and the loading technique, and lasted over at least 20 days. No morphological or mechanical changes of the BNC due to the presence of plasmids were observed. Immobilized plasmids especially in the matrix systems were protected against enzymatic degradation by maintaining the high biocompatibility of BNC and transfection efficacy of the plasmids. These results indicate that BNC can be used as a promising and renewable carrier for the application as local gene delivery system.
Subject(s)
Acetobacteraceae/chemistry , Cellulose/chemistry , Drug Carriers/chemistry , Nanostructures/chemistry , Plasmids/chemistry , Plasmids/genetics , Animals , CHO Cells , Chick Embryo , Cricetulus , DNA/genetics , Drug Liberation , Materials Testing , TransfectionABSTRACT
Although bacterial nanocellulose (BNC), a natural nanostructured biopolymer network, offers unique material characteristics, the number of drug-loaded BNC-based carriers in clinical trials or on the market is still low. This report provides an overview of aspects still limiting the broad application of BNC as drug-delivery system and the challenges for its future applications. Continuous large-scale production, storability, the loading and controlled release of critical drugs, for example, with high molar mass or highly lipophilic character as well as the formulation of long-term release systems will be highlighted. Recent achievements toward promoting the application of BNC as drug-delivery system and overcoming these obstacles will be discussed. [Formula: see text].
