Hyaluronic Acid-Mediated Drug Delivery System Targeting for Inflammatory Skin Diseases: A Mini Review

Abstract

Hyaluronic acid (HA), a major component of extracellular matrix has been widely applied in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries due to its reported pharmacological properties. Various types of HA drug delivery system including nanoparticles, cryogel-based formulations, microneedle patches, and nano-emulsions were developed. There are studies reporting that several HA-based transdermal delivery systems exhibit excellent biocompatibility, enhanced permeability and efficient localized release of anti-psoriasis drugs and have shown to inhibit psoriasis-associated skin inflammation. Similarly HA is found in abundant at epidermis of atopic dermatitis (AD) suggesting its role in atopic AD pathology. Anti-allergenic effect of atopic eczema can be achieved through the inhibition of CD44 and protein kinase C alpha (PKCa) interaction by HA. Herein, we aim to evaluate the current innovation on HA drug delivery system and the other potential applications of HA in inflammatory skin diseases, focusing on atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. HA is typically integrated into different delivery systems including nanoparticles, liposomes, ethosomes and microneedle patches in supporting drug penetration through the stratum corneum layer of the skin. For instance, ethosomes and microneedle delivery system such as curcumin-loaded HA-modified ethosomes were developed to enhance skin retention and delivery of curcumin to CD44-expressing psoriatic cells whereas methotrexate-loaded HA-based microneedle was shown to enhance skin penetration of methotrexate to alleviate psoriasis-like skin inflammation. HA-based nanoparticles and pluronic F-127 based dual responsive (pH/temperature) hydrogels had been described to enhance drug permeation through and into the intact skin for AD treatment.

Anti-photoaging effects of flexible nanoliposomes encapsulated Moringa oleifera Lam. isothiocyanate in UVB-induced cell damage in HaCaT cells

“…Table 2 summarizes the percentage of drug retention and penetration in the skin after 24 h. The accumulated drug of MITC NPs is larger than that of HACE/MITC NPs, which are believed to have better skin penetration performance than MITC NPs and to be easily able to penetrate the skin cuticle and enter the deep skin to deliver the drug. Meanwhile, the drug permeability and total drug delivery rate of the HACE/MITC NPs group were higher than those of MITC NPs; this can be attributed to the skin permeability and drug release ability of particles being enhanced by HACE, which improves transcutaneous drug delivery (How et al., 2020 ; Uche et al., 2021 ).…”

Design and Evaluation of Dissolving Microneedles for Enhanced Dermal Delivery of Propranolol Hydrochloride

“…In this study, HA and PVP-K90 were used as matrix materials to produce MNs. HA is a natural linear polysaccharide with excellent water solubility, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and mechanical properties, which has been used extensively in the fabrication of MN [ 58 , 59 , 60 ]. However, dissolving MNs prepared only by HA have high fragility, whereas PVP-K90 is a polymer with good toughness and hardness [ 30 , 61 , 62 ].…”

New Horizons in Hydrogels for Methotrexate Delivery

“…Chitosan and hyaluronic acid (HA) have been extensively studied in hydrogel systems due to their biodegradability and biocompatibility. HA conjugated with MTX (HA-MTX) systems have been tested in vivo arthritis models, psoriasis [ 65 , 66 , 67 ]. Therefore, hydrogels developed for sustained release of MTX are promising in different disease areas and provide more advantageous properties as compared to direct injection of MTX to diseased tissues, or oral consumption.…”