A in vivo study using polymeric microspheres containing magnesium hydroxide (MH) and a bioactive agent (BA), such as apocynin (APO) and astaxanthin (ATX), as dermal fillers found that the encapsulated ATX was maintained for 16 weeks and continued to stimulate tissue regeneration and collagen production improvement.
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For the study, which was published in Biomaterial Sciences, researchers from South Korea used a membrane emulsification device to produce polycaprolactone (PCL)-based microspheres with a uniform size of about 30–40 μm. For the in vitro cell experiments, when acidic degradation products (6-hydroxycaproic acid) were treated with MH, the acidic pH was neutralized to induce wound healing and suppress inflammation.
In the in vivo testing, the injected microspheres showed a sustained release of the BA, without an initial burst release. In a finding that the authors called “remarkable,” the ATX that had been added into the microspheres was maintained for 16 weeks and displayed positive attributes, such as tissue regeneration and collagen production improvement.
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“Overall, these results suggest that the bioactive PCL microspheres containing ATX have excellent potential as a functional dermal filler for skin aesthetics and facial plastic surgery,” they concluded.
