Drug-loaded PLGA-mPEG microparticles as treatment for atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions in BALB/c mice model

Abstract

This study evaluated the feasibility of mizolastine-loaded microparticles as therapy for atopic dermatitis. Microparticles have been researched for decades as a controlled-release drug delivery system, but seldom been used as treatment for skin disease. In this research, we induced dermatitis in BALB/c mice model by repeated topical application of dinitrofluorobenzene and compared the mizolastine microparticles injection and daily mizolastine injection treatment. The results showed that the mizolastine microparticles treatments significantly inhibited ear thickness and dermatitis index in dermatitis model compared with the dermatitis mice without treatment, showing a similar curative effect compared with daily mizolastine injection treatment, and the improvement continued for several days. Inflammatory cells infiltration into the ears and the plasma level of immunoglobulin E were also suppressed by mizolastine microparticles according to the histopathology analysis. In conclusion, the results suggested that drug-loaded microparticles could be a proper candidate for the treatment of skin diseases.

• Biomaterial
• controlled release
• dermatitis
• microspheres

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the Wuhan Goodbio Technology Co., Ltd. and the analytical and testing centre of HUST for useful characterisation. The assistance in the measurement of HPLC by Lihua Zhao, technician from the Chemistry Department of HUST, is highly appreciated.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

The authors acknowledge the Independent Innovation Foundation of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (2010JC029).