Boosting Hair Growth Through Follicular Delivery of Melatonin Through Lecithin-Enhanced Pickering Emulsion Stabilized by Chitosan-Dextran Nanoparticles in Testosterone Induced Androgenic Alopecia Rat Model

April 2023 in “ International Journal of Pharmaceutics ”

Asmaa A. Elshall, Amira M. Ghoneim, Nehad M. Abd-elmonsif, Rihab Osman, Dalia S. Shaker

melatonin lecithin-enhanced Pickering emulsion chitosan-dextran sulfate nanoparticles androgenetic alopecia microemulsions polymeric nanoparticles testosterone UV exposure MEL PE CS-DS NPs AGA ME

TLDR Melatonin in a special emulsion can help treat hair loss more effectively.

In this study, melatonin (MEL) was encapsulated in lecithin-enhanced Pickering emulsions (PE) stabilized by chitosan-dextran sulfate nanoparticles (CS-DS NPs) and compared with MEL-loaded microemulsions (ME) for their effectiveness in treating androgenetic alopecia (AGA). The PE formulation provided significant photoprotection, retaining MEL levels within the desired range, while 50% of MEL in ME degraded after 180 minutes of UV exposure. This enhanced photoprotection was attributed to the polymeric nanoparticles surrounding the PE droplets. The study suggests that PE formulations could be a promising approach for improving the stability and efficacy of MEL in AGA treatment.

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