Development of biodegradable nanofibers for therapy of psoriasis

Psoriasis is a common immune-mediated skin disease characterized by hyperproliferation, aberrant differentiation of keratinocytes, cutaneous inflammation, and high relapse rate. Most of the topical antipsoriatic drugs are formulated in conventional vehicles such as ointments, creams, and lotions. The epidermal hyperproliferation in psoriasis patients may make it difficult for drugs to penetrate to the deeper skin layers. It is therefore important to design a feasible formulation for a specified drug to achieve the therapeutic goals. Recently innovated carriers, for example liposomes, were developed to improve efficacy.  Another possibility pursued in this study is to embed these drugs to electrospunned nanofibers. Such nanofibrous mats have been already used in medicine, especially for wound healing, as a scaffold for regenerating cells, or for the controlled release of drugs. Our goal was the development of multifunctional bandages by incorporating magnetite nanoparticles, as well as the desired drugs into nanofibrous structures using electrospinning and investigating its properties.  We further evaluated the heating properties of these nanofibers in an alternating magnetic field for the purpose of controlled release of drugs commonly used in topical therapy of psoriasis. All samples were electrospun using a rod electrode from polyvinyl alcohol.  The surface morphology of nanofibers was studied by using scanning electron microscopy. Nanofibers were heated using an alternating magnetic field with a frequency 3.5 MHz. Drug release was quantified spectrophotometrically (hydrocortisone at 245 nm and methotrexate at 307 nm). We have fabricated a smart nanofibrous mat with embedded nanoparticles and antipsoriatic drugs. In vitro release studies of hydrocortisone and methotrexate showed that there is an initial burst release of the drugs bound to the enormous surface of nanofibers, followed by very slow further release from the core of nanofibers. Application of alternating magnetic field via heating of magnetite nanoparticles increases this release efficiently. Electrospinning imparted multiple functions to the resulting fabrics and therefore such materials have the potential to achieve better efficacy with an improved safety profile. The integration of drug delivery technologies with protective functionalized electrospun nanofibers is a versatile strategy to increase the possibilities of psoriasis therapy and may have numerous clinical applications.