Transdermal treatment of the surgical and burned wound skin via phytochemical-capped gold nanoparticles.

The biological activities and therapeutic potential of phytochemical-decorated Au nanoparticles (Phyto-AuNPs) were investigated through the treatment of Phyto-AuNPs on the dorsal skin of rats via transdermal drug delivery process in order to regenerate surgical wounded and burned skin. Two different Phyto-AuNPs were applied to the dorsal skin: gallic acid-isoflavone--covered AuNPs (GI-AuNPs) and protocatechuic acid-isoflavone--covered AuNPs (PI-AuNPs). From the biological activity monitoring, it has been resulted that 5-fold thicker epidermis (ER), 50% reduction of metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) level, 3-fold higher superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were obtained in the Phyto-AuNP-treated group, compared with a vehicle group (deionized water (DI-water) treatment). Moreover, the Phyto-AuNPs treatment on the surgical and burn damaged Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats induced higher expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2). It would be plausible that antioxidant property of Phyto-AuNPs assist the acceleration and activation of biomolecules in the healing mechanism, where Phyto-AuNPs can be potential candidates for skin regeneration and wound healing.