Silk peptide-hyaluronic acid based nanogels for the enhancement of the topical administration of curcumin

Jiangxiu Niu; Ming Yuan; Yao Liu; Liye Wang; Zigui Tang; Yihan Wang; Yueheng Qi; Yansong Zhang; Huiyuan Ya; Yanli Fan

doi:10.3389/fchem.2022.1028372

Silk peptide-hyaluronic acid based nanogels for the enhancement of the topical administration of curcumin

Front Chem. 2022 Sep 19:10:1028372. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2022.1028372. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Jiangxiu Niu¹, Ming Yuan¹, Yao Liu¹, Liye Wang¹, Zigui Tang², Yihan Wang¹, Yueheng Qi¹, Yansong Zhang^{1

2}, Huiyuan Ya¹, Yanli Fan¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Food and Drug, Henan Functional Cosmetics Engineering and Technology Research Center, Luoyang Normal University, Luoyang, Henan, China.
² Department of Pharmacy, Henan Medical College, Zhengzhou, China.

Abstract

The present study focused on the development of Cur-loaded SOHA nanogels (Cur-SHNGs) to enhance the topical administration of Cur. The physiochemical properties of Cur-SHNGs were characterized. Results showed that the morphology of the Cur-SHNGs was spherical, the average size was 171.37 nm with a zeta potential of -13.23 mV. Skin permeation experiments were carried out using the diffusion cell systems. It was found that the skin retention of Cur-SHNGs was significantly improved since it showed the best retention value (0.66 ± 0.17 μg/cm²). In addition, the hematoxylin and eosin staining showed that the Cur-SHNGs improved transdermal drug delivery by altering the skin microstructure. Fluorescence imaging indicated that Cur-SHNGs could effectively deliver the drug to the deeper layers of the skin. Additionally, Cur-SHNGs showed significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity with no skin irritation. Taken together, Cur-SHNGs could be effectively used for the topical delivery of therapeutic drugs.

Keywords: curcumin; hyaluronic acid; nanogels; silk peptide; topical administration.