Chitin-Hyaluronan Nanoparticles: A Multifunctional Carrier to Deliver Anti-Aging Active Ingredients through the Skin

Abstract

Abstract:The paper describes the process to produce Chitin Nanofibril-Hyaluronan nanoparticles (CN-HA), showing their ability to easily load active ingredients, facilitate penetration through the skin layers, and increase their effectiveness and safety as an OPEN ACCESSCosmetics 2014, 1 141 anti-aging agent. Size and characterization of CN-HA nanoparticles were determined by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Zetasizer, while encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity of the entrapped ingredients were controlled by chromatographic and spectrophotometric methods. Safeness was evidenced on fibroblasts and keratinocytes culture viability by the MTT (Methylthiazol) assay; anti-aging activity was evaluated in vitro measuring antioxidant capacity, anti-collagenase activity, and metalloproteinase and pro-inflammatory release; efficacy was shown in vivo by a double-blind vehicle-controlled study for 60 days on 60 women affected by photo-aging. In addition, the CN-HA nanoparticles have shown interesting possibility to be used as active ingredients, for designing and making advanced medication by the electrospinning technology, as well as to produce transparent films for food packaging, by the casting method, and can be used also in their dry form as tissues or films without adding preservatives. These unusual CN-HA nanoparticles obtained from the use of raw materials of waste origin may offer an unprecedented occasion for making innovative products, ameliorating the quality of life, reducing pollution and safeguarding the environment's integrity.

Green Nanotechnology Serving the Bioeconomy: Natural Beauty Masks to Save the Environment

“…Melatonin, which is able to counteract oxidative stress and suppress damaged cells' proliferation, has been shown to provide cellular protection against UVR damage when topically applied [34]. Moreover, all the other ingredients used to make the non-woven tissue of the beauty mask, such as CN, LG, Chitosan, Polyethylene Oxide (PEOX), and the polypeptides, contributed to reinforce the anti-inflammatory, immunomodulating, and re-epithelialisation activity of the active ingredients selected, as reported in our previous studies [17][18][19][20][21].…”

“…Following our previous technical experiences [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22], the aim of the study has been to produce effective and safe beauty masks made by non-woven tissues based on the use of CN-lignin block co-polymeric nanoparticles, electrospun with other natural and biocompatible polymers. These non-woven tissues may be considered innovative because they are made of natural fibre, and able to trap different active ingredients before the electrospinning process.…”

“…The network of active ingredients used, entrapped into CN-lignin by the gelation method, were: sodium ascorbyl phosphate (vitamin C derived), melatonin, and beta-glucan known for their antioxidant, immunomodulant, and blanching activity, also previously shown by other studies of our group [16][17][18][19][20][21]; and nicotinamide for its effectiveness at balancing and re-establishing the continuous turnover of Natural Moisturizing Factor (NMF) at the level of the skin lipid lamellae, and repairing the DNA damage induced by Ultraviolet (UV) rays [31][32][33]. Melatonin, which is able to counteract oxidative stress and suppress damaged cells' proliferation, has been shown to provide cellular protection against UVR damage when topically applied [34].…”

A chitin nanofibril-based non-woven tissue as medical dressing: the role of bionanotechnology

“…The block copolymeric micro / nanoparticles CN-HA have been obtained by the gelation method in distilled water followed by refinement of the micro lamellae, as the result of the combination of electropositive CN and electronegative HA (Figure 10). Control of their size and dimensions has been verified by a Zetasizer and by SEM [21,22]. It is interesting to underline that during the gelation method, before mixing together the two water suspensions of CN/HA, different active ingredients, both water and oil-soluble, may be solubilised in advance by the use of surface active agents.…”

Fabrication of magnetic and fluorescent chitin and dibutyrylchitin sub-micron particles by oil-in-water emulsification

“…Its low DA allows the solution of the polysaccharide in a dilute acid solution, allowing the preparation of the particles by ionic cross-linking with pentasodium tripolyphosphate [29]. Also, polyelectrolyte complexation was also used for the preparation of particles of <500 nm with hyaluronic acid and chitin nanofibrils [30]. Importantly, chitin particles have been shown to be suitable for encapsulating active agents such as anti-cancer, anti-aging, or imaging agents [12, 25, 28-30].…”