Hydrocortisone-Loaded Lipid-Polymer Hybrid Nanoparticles for Controlled Topical Delivery: Formulation Design Optimization and In Vitro and In Vivo Appraisal

Omar Awad Alsaidan; Mohammed Elmowafy; Khaled Shalaby; Sami I Alzarea; Diaa Massoud; Abdulsalam M Kassem; Mohamed F Ibrahim

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c00638

Hydrocortisone-Loaded Lipid-Polymer Hybrid Nanoparticles for Controlled Topical Delivery: Formulation Design Optimization and In Vitro and In Vivo Appraisal

ACS Omega. 2023 May 19;8(21):18714-18725. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c00638. eCollection 2023 May 30.

Authors

Omar Awad Alsaidan¹, Mohammed Elmowafy¹, Khaled Shalaby¹, Sami I Alzarea², Diaa Massoud³, Abdulsalam M Kassem⁴, Mohamed F Ibrahim⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Biology, College of Science, Jouf University, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy (Boys), Al-Azhar University, Nasr City, Cairo 11751, Egypt.

Abstract

The barrier functionalities of the skin offer a major but not insuperable hindrance for fabrication of skin delivery effective systems. This work aimed to develop an optimized lipid polymer hybrid nanoparticle and assess the skin delivery effectiveness of hydrocortisone (9.872 ± 0.361 × 10^-3 cm²/h) of a drug through the skin from an optimized formulation when compared with a drug solution. Meanwhile, histological examination after topical application of the optimized formulation showed a safe increase in epidermal thickness. In vivo, the optimized formulation showed promising anti-inflammatory activity in a croton oil-induced ear rosacea model. As an excellent anti-inflammatory agent, these findings propose that the use of lipomers could be a promising strategy to improve the topical effectiveness of hydrocortisone acetate (HCA) against inflammatory diseases. Collectively, these results support our view that lipid polymer hybrid nanoparticles can proficiently deliver hydrocortisone to the skin in treating skin inflammatory conditions.