Quercetin-crosslinked chitosan nanoparticles: a potential treatment for allergic rhinitis

Sci Rep. 2024 Feb 18;14(1):4021. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-54501-2.

Abstract

Allergic rhinitis (AR) remains a major health problem worldwide. Compared with traditional oral drugs, nasal administration avoids first-pass metabolism and achieve faster and more effective efficacy. In this study, we used the ion crosslinking method to prepare quercetin-chitosan nasal adaptive nanomedicine (QCS) delivery system and evaluated in the treatment of allergic rhinitis mice models. The obtained positively charged nanoparticles with a particle size of 229.2 ± 0.2 nm have excellent characteristics in encapsulation efficiency (79.604%), drug loading rate (14.068%), drug release (673.068 μg) and stability(> 7 days). Excitingly, QCS treatment significantly reduced the number of sneezing and nasal rubbing events in AR mice, while reducing the levels of inflammatory factors such as immunoglobulin E (IgE), interleukin (IL)-17, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and (IL)-6 to alleviate AR symptoms. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining also showed the damaged nasal mucosa was improved. These experimental results suggest that QCS can effectively suppress allergic inflammation in a mouse model and hold promise as a therapeutic option for allergic rhinitis.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chitosan* / pharmacology
  • Cytokines / metabolism
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Nanoparticles*
  • Nasal Mucosa / metabolism
  • Ovalbumin / metabolism
  • Quercetin / pharmacology
  • Rhinitis, Allergic* / metabolism
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / metabolism

Substances

  • Chitosan
  • Quercetin
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
  • Ovalbumin
  • Cytokines