TLDR Phospholipid-coated nanoparticles penetrate hair follicles better than others, especially in pig ears.
The study developed a method to quantify nanoparticle (NP) uptake into hair follicles (HF) using a pig ear model in vitro and human volunteers in vivo. It focused on optimizing NP for transdermal drug delivery by examining the influence of NP material on HF uptake. Fluorescence-labeled NPs based on poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) with different surface modifications were tested. The study found that phospholipid-coated NPs, specifically DPPC and DPPC:DOTAP, penetrated HFs more effectively than other NPs. This effect was statistically significant in the pig ear model but not in human volunteers. An excellent in vitro–in vivo correlation (r² = 0.987) was observed, supporting the pig ear model's suitability as a surrogate for human studies. These findings could help optimize NP targeting of HFs and improve transdermal delivery.
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