For an improved understanding of the relevant particle features for cutaneous use, we studied the effect of the surface charge of acrylic nanocapsules (around 150nm) and the effect of a chitosan gel vehicle on the particle penetration into normal and stripped human skin ex vivo as well as local tolerability (cytotoxicity and irritancy). Rhodamin-tagged nanocapsules penetrated and remained in th...

Capsaicin has known pharmacological effects including the ability to reversibly open cellular tight junctions, among others. The aim of this study was to develop a strategy to enhance the paracellular transport of a substance with low permeability (FITC-dextran) across an epithelial cell monolayer via reversible opening of cellular tight junctions using a nanosystem comprised by capsaicin and o...

Hollow multilayer nanocapsules were successfully prepared through layer-by-layer assembly of two bioactive polysaccharides, chitosan and fucoidan. The stepwise adsorption of 10 chitosan/fucoidan layers and the consequent formation of a multilayer film on polystyrene nanoparticles (used as templates) were followed through ζ-potential measurement and the removal of the polystyrene core was confir...

We have developed novel Pluronic/chitosan nanocapsules encapsulating iron oxide nanoparticles. These nanocapsules were produced by dispersing hydrophobically-modified iron oxide nanoparticles and amine-reactive Pluronic derivatives in an organic solvent, and subsequently emulsification in an aqueous chitosan solution by ultrasonication. The resultant shell cross-linked nanocapsules had a unique...

The medicinal applications of curcumin, the major component of Curcuma longa, are limited by its poor solubility and low oral bioavailability. In order to overcome this limitation, a method to produce nanocapsules of chitosan loaded with curcumin was developed. Three different molecular weight and deacetylation degree chitosan polymers were used in the formulation in order to prepare curcumin-l...

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a crucial protein that plays an important role in the maintenance and development of glioblastomas. The silencing or knockdown of EGFR is possible by administering a small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA). Lipid nanocapsules (LNCs) covered by chitosan were developed in our laboratory by a transacylation process. The resulting nanocapsules have a po...

The vaginal route of administration is an alternative for several treatments for either local or systemic pharmacological effects. However, the permanence of a drug in this route represents a challenge for formulation development that can be overcome by using nanoencapsulation and chitosan gel. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate the performance of chitosan hydrogels containing cationic and anion...

Thermo-gelling injectable nanogels, with no burst release of loaded drug, were prepared by a simple route by combining self assembled nanocapsules of amphiphilically modified chitosan with glycerophosphate di-sodium salt and glycerol. The potential as a depot drug delivery system was demonstrated in vivo through the therapeutic effect of ethosuximide (ESM) loaded nanogels, suppressing spike wav...

Frequent use of synthetic larvicides has led to the development of resistance in many species of mosquitoes as well as risk of environmental pollution. Recently, encapsulating essential oils (EOs) in surfactants or polymers is being employed as an approach to control the volatility of EOs as green larvicides. In this research, components of tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) essential oil were id...