Co-encapsulation of phytocompounds in liposomes for enhanced wound healing: development and physicochemical characterization

Chronic wounds are a significant and increasingly prevalent public health problem, characterized by a prolonged inflammatory phase and healing time, with a strong impact on healthcare systems and patients’ quality of life. Furthermore, the high risk of infections and the development of biofilms in wound beds are difficult to treat, especially with growing antimicrobial resistance. In this context, natural compounds show great potential for wound management due to their antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities. The combination of several compounds with different bioactivities can simultaneously treat multiple aspects of wound healing, thereby potentially achieving a synergistic effect.

In this work, we developed a topical liposomal formulation co-encapsulating two phytocompounds with different physicochemical properties to enhance wound healing. Liposomes composed of an 80:20 molar ratio of lipid 1:lipid 2 were prepared using the thin-film hydration method. The physicochemical properties of the nanoparticles, including their mean particle size and polydispersity index (PDI), were evaluated using dynamic light scattering, and their zeta potential was measured using electrophoretic light scattering. The encapsulation efficiency was determined after filtration through ultracentrifugation by quantifying the phytocompound content in the filtrate using high-performance liquid chromatography.

The dual-loaded liposomes exhibited a mean particle size of 134.08 ± 16.27 nm, a PDI of 0.21 ± 0.05, and a zeta potential of -15.57 ± 9.20 mV. Both phytocompounds were effectively encapsulated, with encapsulation efficiencies of 91.36 ± 0.01% for the hydrophobic compound and 41.76 ± 5.05% for the hydrophilic compound. The physicochemical properties indicated a homogeneous and stable system with a small size suitable for skin application, with the potential to facilitate the penetration and co-delivery of encapsulated compounds into deeper layers.

These preliminary findings suggest that liposomes are promising carriers for the co-encapsulation of natural compounds. Further antioxidant and in vitro release studies are being conducted to complement these results.