Chitosan nanoparticles making their way to clinical practice: A feasibility study on their topical use for acne treatment

Abstract

Despite the popularity of chitosan as a biodegradable polymer used in a variety of applications, clinical trials involving chitosan or its nanoparticles are still scarce. Moreover, the use of nutraceuticals as a replacement to conventional chemical treatments has become currently popular, and if combined with nanotechnology, nutraceuticals can achieve a comparable or even better therapeutic outcome. In the current work, chitosan nanoparticles loading the nutraceutical nicotinamide were optimized, characterized, and clinically tested on patients suffering from acne vulgaris. The topical merits of chitosan nanoparticles were proven, in which they exhibited strong skin adhesion ex vivo and high nicotinamide deposition in the different skin layers (stratum corneum, epidermis and dermis) amounting to a total of 68%. When clinically tested on patients, nicotinamide nanoparticles displayed 73% reduction in the inflammatory acne lesions compared to untreated areas, hence proving that chitosan nanoparticles can be a clinically sounding option for treatment of skin diseases.

Keywords: Acne; Chitosan; Clinical; Nanoparticles; Nicotinamide; Topical.