Evaluation of cationic elastic liposomes comprising highly skin-permeable growth factors combined with hyaluronic acid for enhanced diabetic wound-healing therapy

Preparation and in vivo evaluation of cationic elastic liposomes comprising highly skin-permeable growth factors combined with hyaluronic acid for enhanced diabetic wound-healing therapy

Article specifications

This study was published in 2017 in Journal of Acta Biomater. (IF 2016:6.319) by Korean specialists. The aim of this study was to enhance the therapeutic effects of exogenous administration of growth factors (GFs) in the treatment of chronic wounds. We genetically conjugated a low-molecular-weight protamine (LMWP) to the N-termini of these GFs to form LMWP-EGF, LMWP-IGF-I, and LMWP-PDGF-A. Subsequently, these molecules were complexed with hyaluronic acid (HA).

 

Results

We believe that our study makes a significant contribution to the literature, because it demonstrated the potential application of cationic elastic liposomes as topical delivery systems for growth factors (GFs) that have certain limitations in their therapeutic effects (e.g., low percutaneous absorption of GFs at the lesion site and the requirement for various GFs at different healing stages). Topical treatment with cationic elastic liposomes loaded with highly skin-permeable low-molecular-weight protamine (LMWP)-fused GFs-hyaluronic acid (HA) complex synergistically enhanced the healing of diabetic wounds, exerting both rapid and prolonged effects.