Investigation of the Cutaneous Penetration Behavior of Dexamethasone Loaded to Nano-Sized Lipid Particles by EPR Spectroscopy, and Confocal Raman and Laser Scanning Microscopy

December 2016 in “ European journal of pharmaceutics and biopharmaceutics ”

Silke B. Lohan, Siavash Saeidpour, Agnieszka Solik, Sabine Schanzer, Heike Richter, Pin Dong, Maxim E. Darvin, Roland Bodmeier, Alexa Patzelt, Gaith Zoubari, Michael Unbehauen, Rainer Haag, Jürgen Lademann, Christian Teutloff, Robert Bittl, Martina C. Meinke

dexamethasone nano-sized lipid particles NLP electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy EPR spectroscopy confocal laser scanning microscopy CLSM confocal Raman microscopy CRM stratum corneum SC hair follicles inflammatory skin diseases Dx nano lipid particles base cream

Studysummary This study found that nano-sized lipid particles improved the skin accumulation and retention of dexamethasone compared to a base cream, suggesting potential benefits for inflammatory skin disease treatment. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.

The study investigated the skin penetration efficiency of dexamethasone (Dx) when loaded into nano-sized lipid particles (NLP) compared to a conventional base cream. Using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), and confocal Raman microscopy (CRM), the researchers found that Dx loaded into NLP showed more than a twofold increase in penetration into the stratum corneum (SC) after 24 hours compared to just 4 hours, whereas the base cream showed no significant further penetration after 4 hours. The NLP did not release Dx as the base cream did, but still allowed Dx to be detectable in the skin after the SC was removed, suggesting that NLPs penetrated into hair follicles. However, NLPs did not penetrate as deeply into the SC as the base cream. The results suggest that NLPs can enhance the accumulation of Dx in the skin and create a reservoir within the SC and hair follicles, potentially improving the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases.

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