TREAT ACNE WITH COCONUT OIL AND NANO- BOMBS
A natural product
found in both coconut oil and human breast milk -- lauric acid -- shines as a
possible new acne treatment thanks to a bioengineering graduate student from
the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering
The student developed
a "smart delivery system" -- published in the journal ACS
Nano in March -- capable of delivering lauric-acid-filled nano-scale
bombs directly to skin-dwelling bacteria (Propionibacterium acnes) that
cause common acne.
On Thursday April 15,
bioengineering graduate student Dissaya "Nu" Pornpattananangkul will
present her most recent work on this experimental acne-drug-delivery system at
Research Expo, the annual research conference of the UC San Diego Jacobs School
of Engineering.
Common acne, also
known as "acne vulgaris," afflicts more than 85 percent of teenagers
and over 40 million people in the United States; and current treatments have
undesirable side effects including redness and burning. Lauric-acid-based
treatments could avoid these side effects, the UC San Diego researchers say.
"It's a good
feeling to know that I have a chance to develop a drug that could help people
with acne," said Pornpattananangkul, who performs this research in the
Nanomaterials and Nanomedicine Laboratory of UC San Diego NanoEngineering
professor Liangfang Zhang from the Jacobs School of Engineering.
The new smart delivery
system includes gold nanoparticles attached to surfaces of lauric-acid-filled
nano-bombs. The gold nanoparticles keep the nano-bombs (liposomes) from fusing
together. The gold nanoparticles also help the liposomes locate acne-causing
bacteria based on the skin microenvironment, including pH.
Once the nano-bombs
reach the bacterial membranes, the acidic microenvironment causes the gold nanoparticles
to drop off. This frees the liposomes carrying lauric acid payloads to fuse
with bacterial membranes and kill the Propionibacterium acnesbacteria.
"Precisely
controlled nano-scale delivery of drugs that are applied topically to the skin
could significantly improve the treatment of skin bacterial infections. By
delivering drugs directly to the bacteria of interest, we hope to boost
antimicrobial efficacy and minimize off-target adverse effects," said
Zhang. "All building blocks of the nano-bombs are either natural products
or have been approved for clinical use, which means these nano-bombs are likely
to be tested on humans in the near future."
Zhang noted that
nano-scale topical drug delivery systems face a different set of challenges
than systems that use nanotechnology to deliver drugs systematically to people.
Pornpattananangkul and
UC San Diego chemical engineering undergraduate Darren Yang confirmed, in 2009
in the journal Biomaterials, the antimicrobial activity of
nano-scale packets of lauric acid against Propionibacterium acnes.
Pornpattananangkul,
who is originally from Thailand, said that it's just a coincidence that her
research involves a natural product produced by coconuts -- a staple of Thai
cuisine.
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