Alkyl-Terminated Gold Nanoparticles as a Self-Therapeutic Treatment for Psoriasis
October 2021
in “
Nano letters
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Studysummary In an animal study, this research explored the use of a self-therapeutic nanoparticle for treating psoriasis in mice, finding that it could prevent and treat psoriatic symptoms as effectively as standard therapies without causing side effects like hair loss and skin wrinkling. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.
The document describes the synthesis of alkyl-terminated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for potential use in psoriasis treatment. The synthesis process involves the conjugation of alkylamine to a bifunctional polyethylene glycol (PEG) linker, verified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF). The document also details the creation of AuNPs of different core sizes (3 nm and 6 nm in diameter), using HAuCl4, sodium citrate, and either NaBH4 or tannic acid as reducing agents. The resultant AuNPs could potentially be used as a self-therapeutic treatment for psoriasis, although the document does not provide any experimental results or conclusions regarding their efficacy in this regard.