Therapeutic Potential of Hydrogel Based Sodium Alginate and Chitosan as A Multifunctional Drug Delivery System for Atopic Dermatitis

Abstract

Tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) has low bioavailability due to its fast metabolism and short 
half-life, which is not conducive to transdermal treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD). 
Therefore, in this study, TMP was encapsulated into liposomes (Lip) by film dispersion 
method, and then the surface of Lip was modified by sodium alginate (ALG) and 
chitosan (CS). The tetramethylpyrazine-loaded liposomes in sodium alginate chitosan 
hydrogel called T-Lip-AC hydrogel. In vitro experiments, we found that T-Lip-AC 
hydrogel not only had the antibacterial effect of CS, but also enhanced the anti
inflammatory and antioxidant effects of TMP. In addition, T-Lip-AC hydrogel could 
also provide a moist healing environment for AD dry skin and produce better skin 
permeability, and can also achieve sustained drug release, which is conducive to the 
treatment of AD. The lesions induced by 1-chloro- 2, 4-dinitrobenzene were used as the 
AD lesions model to test the therapeutic effect of the T-Lip-AC hydrogel on AD in vivo. 
The studies have showed that T-Lip-AC hydrogel could effectively promote wound 
healing. Therefore, we have developed a T-Lip-AC hydrogel as multifunctional 
hydrogel drug delivery system, which could become an effective, safe and novel 
alternative treatment method for treating AD.