Saman Heydari
1,2 
, Mohammad Barzegar Jalali
3, Maryam Kouhsoltani
4, Afsaneh Radmehr
5, Ana Cláudia Paiva-Santos
6,7, Siamak Barghi
8, Hamed Hamishehkar
9,10* 1 Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran
2 Student Research Committee and Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
3 Biotechnology Research Center and Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
4 Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, School of Dentistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
5 Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
6 Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Coimbra, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
7 REQUIMTE/LAQV, Group of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Coimbra, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
8 Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Paramedical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
9 Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
10 Research Center of New Material and Green Chemistry, Khazar University, 41 Mehesti Street AZ1096, Baku, Azerbaijan
Abstract
Introduction: Androgenic alopecia (AGA) is the most common type of hair loss that occurs due to androgens, specially, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and the 5-alpha reductase is the key enzyme to control AGA, as it is responsible for the conversion of testosterone to DHT, the more potent form of testosterone involved in the pathogenesis of AGA. Blockers of this enzyme suppress the conversion of androgens to DHT. Dutasteride is one of the 5-alpha reductase inhibitors and is frequently used as an anti-hair loss treatment. Gamma-oryzanol (GO) is an anti-oxidant and anti-5-alpha reductase, which has been introduced as an anti-hair loss treatment by some studies.
Methods: The nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) were developed for targeting the 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 accumulation of the drugs in the target area (hair follicle cells), reduce the absorption of dutasteride in other organs and tissues, and reduce the side effects. NLCs were prepared by adopting a hot homogenization method and were characterized by particle size analyzer, scanning electron microscope, and X-ray diffraction. An in-vivo study was conducted using C57BL/6 mice to assess NLCs ability in drug delivery and accumulation in hair follicles.
Results: NLCs had great potentials for reducing the dutasteride daily dose. Moreover, the accumulation of NLCs was confirmed by histopathological images even after two weeks of the discontinued treatment.
Conclusion: NLCs may have facilitated the follicular delivery of the anti-hair loss drugs. Since the NLCs have potential for accumulation in the hair follicles, the interval of formulation usage may have been increased to more than once a week which was of great interest to the practitioners aiming at developing more efficient formulations for androgenetic alopecia.