Nanotechnology meets atopic dermatitis: Current solutions, challenges and future prospects. Insights and implications from a systematic review of the literature.

Abstract

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic, relapsing, non-contiguous, exudative eczema/dermatitis, which represents a complex, multi-factorial disorder, due to an impairment of the <i>stratum corneum</i> barrier. Currently available drugs have a low skin bioavailability and may give rise to severe adverse events. Nanotechnologies, including nano-particles, liposomes, nano-gels, nano-mixtures, nano-emulsions and other nano-carriers, offer unprecedented solutions to these issues, enabling: i) the management of different clinical forms of atopic dermatitis, especially the recalcitrant ones, i) a better bio-availability and trans-dermal drug targeted delivery at the inflammation site, ii) dose control, iii) significant improvements both in clinical symptoms and immune responses, iv) with less adverse events being reported and a better safety profile. However, some nano-sized structures could amplify and even worsen symptoms in particularly susceptible individuals. Furthermore, most studies included in the present systematic review have been conducted <i>in-vitro</i> or <i>in-vivo</i>, with few randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs). Future investigations should adopt this design in order to enable scholars achieving robust findings and evidence. Therefore, given the above-mentioned shortcomings, further research in the field is urgently warranted.