A multifunctional cholesterol-free liposomal platform based on protopanaxadiol for alopecia therapy

Liposome could form a long-term drug reservoir in the skin for sustained drug release,which is beneficial to improving efficacy and alleviating adverse effects.Thus,it has become a better option for anti-alopecia drugs delivery.However,cholesterol used as the fluidity buffer in conventional liposomes is a precursor for testosterone biosynthesis,which could convert to dihydrotestosterone,resulting in hair follicle damage and potentiating hair loss.To overcome the limitations,in this study we prepared a cholesterol-free liposome(PPD-Lip)using protopanaxadiol(PPD)instead of cholesterol to avoid the biosynthesis of testosterone which is adverse to alopecia therapy.PPD-Lip also worked as an active ingredient to facilitate hair growth by promoting dermal papilla cells proliferation and migration,upregulating mRNA levels of hair growth-related positive regulators,and accelerating angiogenesis in vitro.Meanwhile,it promoted hair regrowth in telogen and androgenetic alopecia mice models in vivo.In addition,our study showed that as the liposomal vehicle,PPD-Lip loaded with dutasteride exerted a stronger efficacy in the treatment of androgenetic alopecia and such a strategy could extend to other anti-alopecia agents.To the best of our knowledge,being easy for clinical transformation,the PPD-based liposomal delivery system provides a promising and multifunctional alternative platform for the delivery of alopecia treatment agents.