Topical Formulations Based on Ursolic Acid-Loaded Nanoemulgel with Potential Application in Psoriasis Treatment.

Psoriasis is a chronic disorder that causes a rash with itchy, scaly patches. It affects nearly 2-5% of the worldwide population and has a negative effect on patient quality of life. A variety of therapeutic approaches, e.g., glucocorticoid topical therapy, have shown limited efficacy with systemic adverse reactions. Therefore, novel therapeutic agents and physicochemical formulations are in constant need and should be obtained and tested in terms of effectiveness and minimization of side effects. For that reason, the aim of our study was to design and obtain various hybrid systems, nanoemulgel-macroemulsion and nanoemulgel-oleogel (bigel), as vehicles for ursolic acid (UA) and to verify their potential as topical formulations used in psoriasis treatment. Obtained topical formulations were characterized by conducting morphological, rheological, texture, and stability analysis. To determine the safety and effectiveness of the prepared ursolic acid carriers, in vitro studies on human keratinocyte cell-like HaCaT cells were performed with cytotoxicity analysis for individual components and each formulation. Moreover, a kinetic study of ursolic acid release from the obtained systems was conducted. All of the studied UA-loaded systems were well tolerated by keratinocyte cells and had suitable pH values and stability over time. The obtained formulations exhibit an apparent viscosity, ensuring the appropriate time of contact with the skin, ease of spreading, soft consistency, and adherence to the skin, which was confirmed by texture tests. The release of ursolic acid from each of the formulations is followed by a slow, controlled release according to the Korsmeyer-Peppas and Higuchi models. The elaborated systems could be considered suitable vehicles to deliver triterpene to psoriatic skin.

Effect of New Surfactants on Biological Properties of Liquid Soaps.

Liquid soaps are the basic cosmetics used to clean the skin of the hands. Frequent hand washing prevents viral contamination but may damage the skin's hydro-lipid layer, leading to various types of irritation. Therefore, four liquid soap formulas were developed with three amphoteric surfactants: Cocamidopropyl Betaine (LS II), CocamidopropylHydroxysultaine (LS III), and newly synthesized Evening PrimroseaamidopropylSulfobetaine (LS IV). We evaluated the skin irritating potential (zein number, bovine albumin test) and cytotoxicity (AlamarBlue™, Cell viability, and Cell cycle assays) on HaCaT cell line. We observed lower values of the zein number and bovine albumin tests after adding soaps with surfactants (the highest differences in LS IV) compared to the base soap (LS I). However, LS I and LS II did not differ in cytotoxic assays. Therefore, adding LS III and LS IV seems potentially more dangerous to the cells. However, it should be noted that cells were continuously exposed to liquid soaps for more than 24 h, so its cytotoxic effects after dermal use in humans may be unnoticeable. Concluding, results suggest that the newly synthesized LS IV should improve the safety of liquid hand washing soaps.

Alkyl Polyglucosides as Components of Water Based Lubricants.

Water can be used as an ecological lubricant base if it is possible to select additives which can beneficially modify its tribological and corrosion properties. Additionally, those additives should not be harmful to human health and the natural environment. These conditions limit or even eliminate the possibility for the application of the additives used in traditional oil bases as they are insoluble in water and often toxic. Alkyl polyglucosides (APGs) have been suggested as additives improving lubricating properties of water. They are biodegradable and do not have to be recycled. They exhibit surface activity. They produce micelles at low concentration and lyotropic liquid crystals at high concentration. Two types of alkyl polyglucosides differing in alkyl chain lengths and degrees of polymerization were used in this investigation. Tribological tests were carried out using a ball-on-disc T-11 tester. The balls were made of steel, whereas the discs were made of steel, aluminium oxide, zirconium oxide, polyamide and poly(methyl methacrylate). The description of the device and the methods has been given in the literature (Szczerek and Tuszynski in TriboTest 8:273-284, 2002). The addition of APGs improves the lubricating properties of water. The relative decrease in motion resistance and wear depends both on the type of friction couple and on the kind of alkyl polyglucoside used. The tribological test results obtained were correlated with the activity of APGs measured as wettability of friction couples by their solutions.