Follicle-Targeted Delivery of Betamethasone and Minoxidil Co-Entrapped in Polymeric and Lipid Nanoparticles for Topical Alopecia Areata Treatment

The study investigated the use of polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) to deliver minoxidil and betamethasone for topical treatment of alopecia areata. The PNPs loaded 99.1 ± 13.0% minoxidil and 70.2 ± 12.8% betamethasone, while the NLCs entrapped 99.4 ± 0.1 minoxidil and 80.7 ± 0.1% betamethasone. In vitro studies showed that PNPs and NLCs increased minoxidil penetration into the follicular casts by 2.6-fold and tenfold respectively compared to the control. Both nanoparticles targeted approximately 50% of minoxidil delivery to the follicular casts, while NLCs targeted 74% of betamethasone delivery to the hair follicles. The study concluded that PNPs and NLCs are promising drug delivery systems for enhancing follicular targeting of drugs, with NLCs showing superior performance for lipophilic drugs.