follicular co-delivery of gamma oryzanol and dutasteride by nanostructured lipid carriers composed of saw palmetto and pumpkin seed oil

Abstract

Introduction: Androgenic alopecia (AGA) is the most common type of hair loss that happens due to androgens, and specially dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and the enzyme 5-alpha reductase is the key point to control it, as it is responsible for conversion of testosterone to DHT, the more potent form of testosterone and DHT is involved in pathogenesis of AGA. Blockers of this enzyme suppress the conversion of androgens to DHT. Dutasteride is one of the 5-alpha reductase inhibitors and frequently used as an anti-hair loss treatment. Gamma-oryzanol (GO) is an anti-oxidant and anti-5-alpha reductase and had studied as an anti-hair loss treatment in some studies. This way, we developed nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) for targeting dutasteride and GO in hair follicles. The NLCs were prepared from herbal oils pumpkin seed oil (PSO) and saw palmetto (SP), which also have a 5-alpha reductase inhibitory effect, contributing to the therapeutic effect. NLCs in follicular targeting enable to accumulate the drugs in the target area (hair follicle cells), reduce the absorption of dutasteride in other organs and tissues, and reduce the side effects. Methods: NLCs were prepared by a hot homogenization method and were characterized by particle size analyzer, scanning electron microscope, and X-ray diffraction. An in-vivo study using C57BL/6 mice was performed, and the effectiveness of NLCs, in comparison to control groups was measured. Results: NLCs had great results in AGA treatment and reducing the dutasteride daily dose. Moreover, the accumulation of NLCs was proved by histopathological images even after 2 weeks of discontinuing treatment while the AGA induction was continued.Conclusion: NLCs can help with follicular delivery of anti-hair loss drugs and because of the ability of NLCs in accumulate in hair follicles, the interval of formulation usage will increase to even more than one in a week which is of great interest for the development of more efficient formulations for androgenetic alopecia.