Nasal Spray Formulations Based on Combined Hyalurosomes and Glycerosomes Loading Zingiber officinalis Extract as Green and Natural Strategy for the Treatment of Rhinitis and Rhinosinusitis

Abstract

A total green nanotechnological nasal spray has been manufactured and proposed as an alternative treatment of rhinitis and rhinosinusitis. It was obtained by combining the strengthening effect of liposomes on barrier function, the hydrating and lubricating properties of sodium hyaluronan and the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of the extract of Zingiber officinalis. To this purpose, the extract was loaded in special phospholipid vesicles immobilized with hyaluronic acid (hyalurosomes), which were further enriched with glycerol in the water phase. Liposomes and glycerosomes were prepared as well and used as reference. Vesicles were oligolamellar and multicompartment, as confirmed by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) observation, small in size (~140 nm) and negatively charged (~−23 mV). Spray characteristics were evaluated by using the Spraytec® and instant images, from which the plume angle was measured. The range of the droplet size distribution and the narrow spray angle obtained suggest a good nebulization and a possible local deposition in the nasal cavity. In vitro studies performed by using human keratinocytes confirmed the high biocompatibility of vesicles and their ability to effectively counteract oxidative damage on cells induced by hydrogen peroxide. The overall collected data suggest that our vesicles are suitable as nasal spray.

Design of a Nasal Spray Based on Cardiospermum halicacabum Extract Loaded in Phospholipid Vesicles Enriched with Gelatin or Chondroitin Sulfate

“…The images of sprayed water established the atomizing ability of the device to compare the results obtained when spraying the formulations of C. halicacabum extract loaded in vesicles (Figure 3). Dispersions of PEVs and gelatin-PEVs produced a full cone plume, like that of water but less intense and large, while chondroitin-PEVs produced a hollow cone plume, not desirable for our purposes, where the liquid droplets were mainly located in the outer layers and sparsely populated the interior region [43] (Figure 3).…”

“…Data were reported as the D10, D50, and D90 volume diameter percentiles, expressed as 10%, 50% and 90% of the cumulative volume undersize. To characterize the width of droplet size distribution, the Span number was also reported as (D90−D10)/D50) as previously [43].…”

“…The distribution of sprayed droplets and their average velocity were measured by laser plane visualization and particle image velocimetry. This technique allows the capture of two components of the velocity with high spatial resolution in a whole slice of the flow [43]. To visualize the atomization process, instantaneous images were acquired with a Hamamatsu 1,024 × 1,344 pixels 12-bit C4742-95-12 ORCA-ER charge-coupled device (CCD) camera (Hamamatsu Photonics, Shizuoka, Japan), equipped with a Nikon 50 mm F#1.2 lens.…”

“…Finally, the commercial atomizers used were manufactured with plastic injection molding, so certain variability in the atomization of each device could be expected. To evaluate the device variability, the actuation of 3 atomizers with distilled water was measured as previously reported [43].…”

“…The characteristics of the spray plumes generated by the vesicle dispersions were also measured. To assess the possible variability introduced by pump and nozzle manufacture, the behavior of distilled water sprayed with three different devices has been evaluated and used as a reference, as reported in a previous work [43]. The images of sprayed Molecules 2021, 26, 6670 9 of 18 water established the atomizing ability of the device to compare the results obtained when spraying the formulations of C. halicacabum extract loaded in vesicles (Figure 3).…”