Development of A New Delivery System Based on Drug-Loadable Electrospun Nanofibers for Psoriasis Treatment

Abstract

Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune systemic disease with an approximate incidence of 2% worldwide; it is commonly characterized by squamous lesions on the skin that present the typical pain, stinging, and bleeding associated with an inflammatory response. In this work, poly(methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic ethyl monoester) (PMVEMA-ES) nanofibers have been designed as a delivery vehicle for three therapeutic agents with palliative properties for the symptoms of this disease (salicylic acid, methyl salicylate, and capsaicin). For such a task, the production of these nanofibers by means of the electrospinning technique has been optimized. Their morphology and size have been characterized by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). By selecting the optimal conditions to achieve the smallest and most uniform nanofibers, approximate diameters of up to 800–900 nm were obtained. It was also determined that the therapeutic agents that were used were encapsulated with high efficiency. The analysis of their stability over time by GC-MS showed no significant losses of the encapsulated compounds 15 days after their preparation, except in the case of methyl salicylate. Likewise, it was demonstrated that the therapeutic compounds that were encapsulated conserved, and even improved, their capacity to activate the transient receptor potential cation channel 1 (TRPV1) channel, which has been associated with the formation of psoriatic lesions.

Physico-Chemically Distinct Nanomaterials Synthesized from Derivates of a Poly(Anhydride) Diversify the Spectrum of Loadable Antibiotics

“…The present work provides evidence of the versatility of polymers for generating nanostructures adapted to the solubility properties of the compounds of interest, for successful encapsulation of these compounds. Our previous studies provided the first demonstration of electrospinning procedures optimized for creating nanofibers of the two PMVE/MA derivates used here [10,11]. These were used to encapsulate 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) into nanofibers made of each polymer [11], and a combination of salicylic acid, methyl salicylate and capsaicin into PMVE/MA-Es nanofibers [10].…”

“…Our previous studies provided the first demonstration of electrospinning procedures optimized for creating nanofibers of the two PMVE/MA derivates used here [10,11]. These were used to encapsulate 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) into nanofibers made of each polymer [11], and a combination of salicylic acid, methyl salicylate and capsaicin into PMVE/MA-Es nanofibers [10]. Here, we demonstrated the encapsulation of four structurally different molecules (with a common application: antibiotics) into electrospun nanofibers of either PMVE/MA-Ac or PMVE/MA-Es.…”

“…From our previous studies, either 20% w/w PMVE/MA-Ac in H 2 O or 25% w/w PMVE/MA-Es in ethanol were selected as optimal polymeric solutions for the creation of electrospun nanofibers [10,11]. Antibiotics were added to the polymeric solutions to reach a final concentration of 1% w/w with respect to both PMVE/MA-Ac and PMVE/MA-Es.…”

“…In our previous works [10,11], the optimal conditions for the electrospinning of the polymer solutions for both of these PMVE/MA derivates were determined, and hence taken as starting points for the present study (briefly, 15 kV, flow rate of 0.5 mL/h, needle-collector distance of 15 cm and polymer concentrations of 20% w/w PMVE/MA-Ac in H2O or 25% w/w PMVE/MA-Es in ethanol). In this study, such conditions proved suitable for generating morphologically uniform nanofibers when initial polymeric solutions were homogenous.…”

“…This material is marketed by Ashland Inc. as Gantrez ® and presents suitable properties for biomedical applications (low toxicity, high biocompatibility, high mucoadhesivity and low cost). In particular, it is reported that PMVE/MA can be structured as loadable nanoparticles [9] and its derivates poly(methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic acid) (PMVE/MA-Ac) and poly(methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic monoethyl ester) (PMVE/MA-Es) as nanofibers [10,11]. In addition, these polymers have shown utility as matrix elements, allowing the combination with other materials to generate novel mixtures of chemical properties in the final nanostructures [11][12][13], such as with homemade fluorescent cationic fluorene-based polyelectrolytes [11,[14][15][16].…”