In recent years, nanocarriers have been widely used as an effective solution for oral administration of pharmaceuticals. However, there is still an urgent need to speed up their translation to clinical practice. Cost-effective and industrially scalable methodologies are still needed. Herein, the production of vitamin C-loaded liposomes for nutraceutical purposes has been investigated and optimized by adopting a High-Pressure Homogenizer. Initially, the impact of process parameters on particles size, distributions, and morphology was explored. The findings document that the pressure and cycle manipulation allow for control over liposome size and polydispersity, reaching a maximum encapsulation efficiency exceeding 80%. This significantly improves the storage stability of vitamin C, as demonstrated by monitoring its antioxidant activity. Furthermore, the in vitro simulation of gastrointestinal digestion shows that liposomes could protect the active substance from damage and control its release in the gastrointestinal fluid. Thus, the whole nanodelivery system can contribute to enhancing vitamin C bioavailability. In conclusion, the results indicate that this innovative approach to producing vitamin C liposomes holds promise for clinical translation and industrial scale-up. Indeed, by utilizing food-grade materials and straightforward equipment, it is possible to produce stable and functional liposomes suitable for health products.

Plant extracts have shown beneficial properties in terms of skin repair, promoting wound healing through a plethora of mechanisms. In particular, the poly-/oligosaccharidic aqueous extract of Triticum vulgare (TVE), as well as TVE-based products, shows interesting biological assets, hastening wound repair. Indeed, TVE acts in the treatment of tissue regeneration mainly on decubitus and venous leg ulcers. Moreover, on scratched monolayers, TVE prompts HaCat cell migration, correctly modulating the expression of metalloproteases toward a physiological matrix remodeling. Here, using the same HaCat-based in vitro scratch model, the TVE effect has been investigated thanks to an LFQ proteomic analysis of HaCat secretomes and immunoblotting. Indeed, the unbiased TVE effect on secreted proteins has not yet been fully understood, and it could be helpful to obtain a comprehensive picture of its bio-pharmacological profile. It has emerged that TVE treatment induces significant up-regulation of several proteins in the secretome (153 to be exact) whereas only a few were down-regulated (72 to be exact). Interestingly, many of the up-regulated proteins are implicated in promoting wound-healing-related processes, such as modulating cell–cell interaction and communication, cell proliferation and differentiation, and prompting cell adhesion and migration.

Wound contaminants are the main cause of healing delay and infection in both chronic and acute wounds; for this reason, the microbial infection management in wound healing is one of the most important components for an effective standard of care. The wound contaminants are most likely to originate from the environment and from the surrounding skin lesion, and to date, the most frequent bacteria isolated are Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. In order to counteract and control these contaminants, the standard care includes topical antiseptic agents. The most commonly used include iodine-releasing agents (e.g., povidone-iodine), hydrogen peroxide, and polyhexanide. This study aims to investigate the in vitro antibacterial activity of a novel topical spray (Fitostimoline (R) Plus spray) based on 0.1% polyhexanide and Rigenase (R) against S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, K pneumoniae, and the combination of S. aureus and K pneumoniae. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of Fitostimoline (R) Plus spray was evaluated by the agar disk diffusion assay, quantitative suspension test, and quantitative carrier test, demonstrating that Fitostimoline (R) Plus spray is able to kill 99.9% bacteria. These results support the microbiological characterization of Fitostimoline (R) Plus spray confirming the antibacterial activity of polyhexanide (PHMB).

Chronic wound is characterized by slow healing time, persistence, and abnormal healing progress. Therefore, serious complications can lead at worst to the tissue removal. In this scenario, there is an urgent need for an ideal dressing capable of high absorbency, moisture retention and antimicrobial properties. Herein we investigate the technical properties of a novel advanced non-woven triple layer gauze imbibed with a cream containing Rigenase, an aqueous extract of Triticum vulgare used for the treatment of skin injuries. To assess the applicability of this system we analyzed the dressing properties by wettability, dehydration, absorbency, Water Vapor Transmission Rate (WVTR), lateral diffusion and microbiological tests. The dressing showed an exudate absorption up to 50%. It created a most environment allowing a proper gaseous exchange as attested by the WVTR and a controlled dehydration rate. The results candidate the new dressing as an ideal medical device for the treatment of the chronic wound repairing process. It acts as a mechanical barrier providing a good management of the bacterial load and proper absorption of abundant wound exudate. Finally, its vertical transmission minimizes horizontal diffusion and side effects on perilesional skin as maceration and bacterial infection.

1.1 Aim: The effective in vitro antibacterial activity on Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P.aeruginosa), Klebsiella pneumoniae (K.pneumoniae), Escherichia coli (E.Coli) and the combination of S.aureus and K. pneumoniae of a topical cream based on 0.1% polyhexanide was compared to a topical cream based on 1% silver sulfadiazine. A topical cream containing 0,1% gentamicin was used as a positive control and a white blank topical cream was used as negative control.1.2 Materials and Methods: The in vitro antibacterial activities were determined by agar well-diffusion assay. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test, by calculation of P-values, for significant antiseptic activity in bacteria treated with 0,1% polyhexanide topical cream compared to 1% silver sulfadiazine and to the negative and positive controls. 1.3 Results: Among the derivatives tested, all the active topical creams analyzed were able to reduce microbial strains. The topical cream based on 0.1% polyhexanide showed a significantly higher antibacterial efficacy in comparison to the topical cream based on 1% silver sulfadiazine on S. aureus and K. pneumoniae and on the combination of S. aureus and K. pneumoniae, while no significant difference was detected between the antibacterial activity of the two topical creams against P. aeruginosa and E. coli. 1.4 Conclusion: These results provide a further insight into the antibacterial activity of polyhexanide and its non-inferiority compared to silver sulfadiazine towards certain bacterial strains (P. aeruginosa and E. coli) and superiority towards other (S. aureus and K. pneumoniae) and support the use of 0.1% Polyhexanide topical preparation for the treatment of wounds that are infected or at risk of infection.

Plant extracts and microbial‐derived molecules, particularly oligo‐ and polysaccharides, are known to promote tissue repair. Triticum vulgare extract (TVE), derived from germinated whole plants and utilized in medical devices, is rich in bioactive molecules comprised of oligo‐ and polysaccharides with diverse biological properties beneficial for wound repair. This study investigates the biochemical mechanisms underlying TVE’s proregenerative activity in vitro effects, comparing it with hyaluronic acid (HA), a gold standard in wound healing. Preliminary results showed that TVE has scavenging properties/antioxidant activity also at lower concentrations with respect to HA that has long been recognized for these properties (Galvez‐Martin et al.). In vitro assays evaluated cell proliferation, migration, extracellular matrix biomarkers, and responses to stress in 2D and 3D models. TVE significantly enhanced keratinocyte migration, reaching approximately 50% wound closure in less than 20 h, whereas the untreated control required about 30 h to achieve the same level of closure. Moreover, TVE performed better than HA at low concentrations, while both treatments improved HDF proliferation and ECM biomarker expression. More specifically, COL1 expression was upregulated by 2.3‐fold relative to the control, showing an effect comparable to that induced by HA (2.8‐fold). Conversely, ELS expression exhibited a 2.0‐fold increase in response to TVE and a 2.6‐fold increase following HA treatment compared with the control. In addition, the extract significantly increased HBD‐2 expression by 2‐fold relative to the control, a novel finding that may be relevant, given the role of this antimicrobial peptide in innate immunity, inflammation regulation, and wound repair. Under stressful conditions, including dehydration and exposure to reactive oxygen species, TVE showed protective effects comparable to HA in both HDF and HaCaT cells. 3D skin models, including those treated with LPS, confirmed the results of 2D assays, further validating TVE’s biological properties. Overall, these studies demonstrate that this extract exerts biological effects comparable to pharmaceutical HA in several in vitro skin models. These findings further support the potential application of TVE in wound management and skin regenerative approaches.