Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a severe clinical condition of respiratory failure due to an intense inflammatory response with different etiologies. Despite all efforts, therapy remains limited, and ARDS is still associated with high mortality and morbidity. Plants can provide a vast source of active natural products for the discovery of new drugs. α-bisabolol (α-bis), a constituent of the essential oil from chamomile, has elicited pharmacological interest. However, the molecule has some limitations to its biological application. This study was conducted to develop a drug delivery system using lipid-core nanocapsules (LNCs) to improve the anti-inflammatory effects of orally administered α-bis. α-bis-loaded LNCs (α-bis-LNCs) were prepared by interfacial deposition of poly(ε-caprolactone) and orally administered in a mouse model of ARDS triggered by an intranasal administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We found that α-bis-LNCs (30, 50, and 100 mg kg −1 ) significantly reduced airway hyperreactivity (AHR), neutrophil infiltration, myeloperoxidase activity, chemokine levels (KC and MIP-2), and tissue lung injury 18 hours after the LPS challenge. By contrast, free α-bis failed to modify AHR and neutrophil accumulation in the bronchoalveolar lavage effluent and lung parenchyma and inhibited elevation in the myeloperoxidase and MIP-2 levels only at the highest dose. Furthermore, only α-bis-LNCs reduced LPS-induced changes in mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling, as observed by a significant reduction in phosphorylation levels of ERK1/2, JNK, and p38 proteins. Taken together, our results clearly show that by using LNCs, α-bis was able to decrease LPS-induced inflammation. These findings may be explained by the robust increase of α-bis concentration in the lung tissue that was achieved by the LNCs. Altogether, these results indicate that α-bis-LNCs should further be investigated as a potential alternative for the treatment of ARDS.

The coexistence with rhinitis limits the control of asthma. Compared with oral H 1 receptor antagonists, intranasal corticosteroids have been demonstrated to provide greater relief of all symptoms of rhinitis and are recommended as first-line treatment for allergic rhinitis. Intrinsic limitations of nasal delivery, such as the presence of the protective mucous layer, the relentless mucociliary clearance, and the consequent reduced residence time of the formulation in the nasal cavity, limit budesonide efficacy to the treatment of local nasal symptoms. To overcome these limitations and to enable the treatment of asthma via nasal administration, we developed a budesonide-loaded lipid-core nanocapsule (BudNC) microagglomerate powder by spray-drying using a one-step innovative approach. BudNC was obtained, as a white powder, using L-leucine as adjuvant with 75 ± 6% yield. The powder showed a bimodal size distribution curve by laser diffraction with a principal peak just above 3 μm and a second one around 0.45 μm and a drug content determined by HPLC of 8.7 mg of budesonide per gram. In vivo after nasal administration, BudNC showed an improved efficacy in terms of reduction of immune cell influx; production of eotaxin-1, the main inflammatory chemokine; and arrest of airways remodeling when compared with a commercial budesonide product in both short-and long-term asthma models. In addition, data showed that the results in the long-term asthma model were more compelling than the results obtained in the short-term model.