[SCAN] The therapeutic link between natural compounds and nanocarriers for (trans)dermal application

Title: The therapeutic link between natural compounds and nanocarriers for (trans)dermal application

Speaker: Dragana Barros

Abstract: Natural products, such as plant-based oils, have received much attention in the last decade due to their beneficial effect on disease prevention and treatment. When topically applied, plant oil composition influences skin physiology (skin barrier, inflammatory status, antioxidant response) differently and has been recognized for its therapeutic effect on the skin. Integrating these oils in lipid nanocarriers improves the biological activity and advantages of these drug delivery systems. Our group developed natural oil-based lipid nanocarriers (NOB-NLCs) with excellent capacity to capture vitamins and proven antimicrobial effects. However, the application of marketing authorization for pharmaceutical products requires detailed data on efficacy, quality, and safety. The lack of well-characterized, biologically relevant infectious disease models is a limiting factor for clinical development. Although animal models are prevalent in skin disorders studies, there is growing interest in reconstructed human skin models. The 3D Skin Model is a highly physiological, three-dimensional cellular system of human dermal cells for in vitro studies, offering an excellent tool to observe aspects of epithelial function and disease, particularly those related to skin biology and toxicology. Well-established methodologies for the production of 3D reconstructed human skin model (3DRHSM), with and without skin disorders, which exhibit in vivo-like characteristics for drug delivery studies, were developed in our lab. We will also show 3DRHSM potential for in vitro permeation studies of developed NOB-NLCs.