Inflammatory conditions of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and peripheral tissues affect many people around the world and are commonly treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). However, in order to get desirable results, treatments with NSAIDs may take weeks, causing undesirable side effects and requiring repeated administration. In this sense, this work describes the development of an optimized nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) formulation for intra-articular administration of naproxen (NPX). An experimental design (2
3
) selected the best formulation in terms of its physicochemical and structural properties, elucidated by different methods (DLS, NTA, TEM, DSC, and ATR-FTIR). The chosen formulation (NLC-NPX) was tested on acute inflammatory TMJ nociception, in a rat model. The optimized excipients composition provided higher NPX encapsulation efficiency (99.8%) and the nanoparticles were found stable during 1 year of storage at 25 °C.
In vivo
results demonstrated that the sustained delivery of NPX directly in the TMJ significantly reduced leukocytes migration and levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β and TNF-α), for more than a week. These results point out the NLC-NPX formulation as a promising candidate for the safe treatment of inflammatory pain conditions of TMJ or other joints.
The standardization of an experimental occlusal interference model will allow us to understand the deleterious effect and mechanisms that affect the orofacial tissues.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.