Intrafollicular glucocorticoid delivery to treat psoriasis-like skin inflammation
Yulia Svenskaya1, Yury Surkov1,2, Isabella Serebryakova1,2, Mikhail Lobanov1, Polina Demina1, Mariia Saveleva1, Natalia A. Shushunova1, Elina A. Genina2, Georgy S. Terentyuk1, Valery V. Tuchin1,2,3
1Scientce Medical Center, Saratov State University, Saratov, Russia
2Institution of Physics, Saratov State University, Saratov, Russia
3Institute of Precision Mechanics and Control, FRC “Saratov Scientific Centre of the RAS”, Saratov, Russia
Abstract
Topical glucocorticosteroids (GCs) represent the basis for therapy of a wide range of inflammatory dermatoses, including psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, alopecia areata, lichen planus, etc. However, the improvement for their penetration through the stratum corneum and intradermal accumulation in the sites of GC receptors remains actual. Low dermal bioavailability causes the need for repeated applications of conventional topical GC formulations that contributes to the development of skin atrophy. The GC delivery to the hair follicles opens up the possibility to localize and enhance its therapeutic effect, since a large number of GC receptors are located in the outer root sheath of the follicle, as well as in the areas of the sebaceous glands and sweat ducts [1].
We report on a novel approach towards the GC encapsulation and delivery to the pilosebaceous reservoir, which can improve the topical application of such hormonal drugs [2]. It involves the use of vaterite particles, which are biodegradable and biocompatible [2-5]. The obtained carriers displayed a good cellular uptake together with the low cytotoxicity when studied in fibroblasts and keratinocytes in vitro. Efficient intrafollicular accumulation of the carriers after their US-assisted topical application in vivo in rats was demonstrated by means of optical coherent tomography (OCT) and scanning electron microscopy. These optical methods were also utilized to monitor degradation of the delivered carriers in hair follicles of rats in vivo to set the scheme of their further application. The use of GC-loaded vaterite carriers was found beneficial, when assessing their therapeutic potential in an imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like skin inflammation rat model. As demonstrated by results of OCT-monitoring, PASI-scoring, texture analysis of digital skin images [6] and histological examination, the proposed system provided a sufficient improvement of anti-inflammatory effect for the GC in comparison to its conventional topical formulation (namely, to GC ointment) simultaneously lowering the GC application frequency by 6 times.
The study was supported by Russian Science Foundation (project № 22-73-10194-П).
References
[1] T. Karstila, et al. "Immunocytochemical localization of glucocorticoid receptor in rat skin", Histochemistry, vol. 102(4), 1994, pp. 305-309.
[2] M. Saveleva, et al. "Biodegradable calcium carbonate carriers for the topical delivery of clobetasol propionate", J Mat. Chem. B, vol. 12(20), 2024, pp. 4867-4881.
[3] Y. Svenskaya, et al. "A simple non-invasive approach toward efficient transdermal drug delivery based on biodegradable particulate system", ACS Appl Mater Int, vol. 11(19), 2019, pp. 17270-17282.
[4] Y. Svenskaya, et al. "Microscopic and spectral study of the release kinetics of betamethasone dipropionate from vaterite carriers in aqueous media", Opt Spetrosc, vol. 132(3), 2024, p.58146.
[5] P. Demina, et al. "Investigation and release profile optimization for vaterite-based carriers loaded with betamethasone dipropionate", BioNanoScience, vol. 15(1), 2025, p. 61.
[6] Y. Surkov, et al. “Texture analysis of digital skin images for assessing the severity of dermatoses”, Opt Spetrosc, 2026.
Speaker
Yulia Svenskaya
Saratov State University
Russia
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