Production,characterization and application of nanotechnology-based vegetable multi-component theospheres in nonwovens: A women's intimate hygiene approach

Abstract

The main objective of this work was to develop a nanotechnology-based component containing substances of vegetable origin, such as butters and essential oils, whose properties may help balance the vulvovaginal microbiota and be applied in nonwovens for feminine hygiene products. The high-pressure homogenization technique was used to obtain the aqueous dispersion of these nanoparticles containing tea tree oil, alpha-bisabolol, resveratrol, grape seed oil and citric acid, namely VM-Theospheres (theospheres are nanoparticles formed by Theobroma grandiflorum butter). The average particle size range was 274 ± 5 nm. The stability tests indicated that formulation status remained stable at room temperature for 28 days. In vitro analysis of skin penetration and irritation showed that the VM-Theospheres can be considered safe for use in feminine hygiene products. The production of an absorbent layer was performed by impregnation of VM-Theospheres in nonwovens. The results revealed that spraying was the most effective method, without the need to treat the samples first.

Keywords

nanoparticles nonwoven vegetable substances feminine hygiene

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Boris

Barbés

. Role played by lactobacilli in controlling the population of vaginal pathogens. Microb Infect 2000; 2: 543–546.

Caramella

et al.

Mucoadhesive and thermogelling systems for vaginal drug delivery. Adv Drug Deliver Rev 2015; 92: 39–52.

Rampersaud

Randis

Ratner

. Microbiota of the upper and lower genital tract. Semin Fetal Neonat Med 2012; 17: 51–57.

Valenta

. The use of mucoadhesive polymers in vaginal delivery. Adv Drug Deliver Rev 2005; 57: 1692–712.

Witkin

Linhares

Giraldo

. Bacterial flora of the female genital tract: function and immune regulation. Best Pract Res Clin Obstetr Gynaecol 2007; 21: 347–354.

Czerwinski

Feminine hygiene considerations for the space environment. In: Taylor

Woods

(eds). Menstruation, health, and illness, Washington, DC: Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, 1991, pp. 65–71.

Anon. Microencapsulation: for enhanced textile performance. Apparel Mark 2005; 12: 21–39.

Bhargava

Jahan

. Cosmetic textile: an innovative alliance of textile and cosmetics. Chin Text Sci 2012; 3: 41–45.

Cheng

et al.

Systematic characterization of cosmetic textiles. Text Res J 2010; 80: 524–536.

10.

Czajka

. Development of medical textile market. Fibre Text East Eur 2005; 13: 13–15.

11.

Fisher

. Medical and hygiene textiles: continuing in good health. Tech Text Int 2002; 11: 10–16.

12.

Kan

Yuen

CWM

. Cosmetic textiles. Text Asia 2005; 36: 29–35.

13.

Singh

Varun

Behera

. Cosmetotextiles: state of art. Fibre Text East Eur 2011; 19: 27–33.

14.

Wang

Chen

. Aromachology and its application in the textile field. Fibres Textiles East Eur 2005; 13: 41–44.

15.

Farage

Lennon

Products for vulvar hygiene. In: Farage

Maibach

(eds). The vulva: Anatomy, physiology and pathology, London: Informa Healthcare, 2006, pp. 217–234.

16.

Andersen

et al.

Anti-irritants II: efficacy against cumulative irritation. Cont Dermat 2006; 3: 155–159.

17.

Brehm-Stecher

Johnson

. Sensitization of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli to antibiotics by the sesquiterpenoids nerolidol, farnesol, bisabolol, and apritone. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2003; 10: 3357–3360.

18.

Charles

et al.

Aetiological agents of ventilator-associated pneumonia and its resistance pattern – a threat for treatment. Australas Med J 2013; 9: 430–434.

19.

Fiume

et al.

Safety assessment of citric acid, inorganic citrate salts, and alkyl citrate esters as used in cosmetics. Int J Toxicol 2014; 33: 16S–46S.

20.

Furiga

Lonvaud-Funel

Badet

. In vitro study of antioxidant capacity and antibacterial activity on oral anaerobes of a grape seed extract. Food Chem 2009; 113: 1037–1040.

21.

Gülçin

. Antioxidant properties of resveratrol: a structure-activity insight. Innovat Food Sci Emerg Technol 2010; 11: 210–218.

22.

Hart

et al.

Terpinen-4-ol, the main component of Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil suppresses inflammatory mediator production by activated human monocytes. Inflamm Res 2000; 49: 619–626.

23.

Jakovlev

Von Schlichtegroll

. On the inflammation inhibitory effect of (-)-alpha-bisabolol, an essential component of chamomilla oil. Arzneimittelforschung 1969; 4: 615–616.

24.

Molva

Baysal

. Antimicrobial activity of grape seed extract on Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris DSM 3922 vegetative cells and spores in apple juice. LWT Food Sci Technol 2015; 60: 238–245.

25.

Oliva

et al.

Antimycotic activity of Melaleuca alternifolia essential oil and its major components. Lett Appl Microbiol 2003; 37: 185–187.

26.

Pauli

. a-Bisabolol from chamomile – a specific ergosterol biosynthesis inhibitor? Int J Aromather 2006; 16: 21–25.

27.

Silva

et al.

Development of natural culture media for rapid induction of Fonsecaea pedrosoi sclerotic cells in vitro. J Clin Microbiol 2008; 11: 3839–3841.

28.

Vandenberghe

LPS

et al.

Microbial production of citric acid. Braz Arch Biol Technol 1999; 42: 263–276.

29.

Villegas

et al.

(+)-epi-Alpha-bisabolol is the wound-healing principle of Peperomia galioides: investigation of the in vivo wound-healing activity of related terpenoids. J Nat Prod 2001; 64: 1357–1359.

30.

Colomé

et al.

Theospheres based on Theobroma grandiflorum seed butter: development of innovative nanoparticles for skin application. Soft Mater 2010; 2: 72–88.

31.

Grumezescu

. Engineering of nanobiomaterials: Applications of nanobiomaterials, Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2016, pp. 564–564.

32.

Univ Northwest A & F. Nanoemulsion composition useful for treating e.g. eczema, herpes, dermatitis or urinary infection, comprises surfactant, auxiliary surfactant, bergamot oil, patchouli oil, tea tree oil, peppermint oil and distilled water. Patent CN102397405-A, China, 2012.

33.

Feedback Trayer SL. Intimate feminine hygiene product for application to vaginal region, comprises red myrtle extract, bisabolol and lactic acid. Patent application ES2334746-A1, Spain, 2010.

34.

Coradini

et al.

A novel approach to arthritis treatment based on resveratrol and curcumin co-encapsulated in lipid-core nanocapsules: in vivo studies. Eur J Pharmaceut Sci 2015; 78: 163–170.

35.

Assumpção ER. Impregnação de diferentes tipos de tecidos de vestuário com nanopartículas de permetrina para ação repelente de insetos de longa duração. MSc Dissertation, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 2012.

36.

Chen

Davis

. The release of diazepam from poly(hydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate) microspheres. J Microencapsulat 2002; 19: 191–201.

37.

Carson

Hammer

Riley

. Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil: a review of antimicrobial and other medicinal properties. Clin Microbiol Rev 2006; 19: 50–62.

38.

Asbahani

et al.

Essential oils: From extraction to encapsulation. Int J Pharmaceut 2015; 483: 220–243.

39.

Fremont

Belguendouz

Delpal

. Antioxidant activity of resveratrol and alcohol-free wine polyphenols related to LDL oxidation and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Life Sci 1999; 64: 2511–2521.

40.

Lachman

et al.

Stability of grape seed oil and its antioxidant tocotrienols. Adv Mater Res 2014; 1030–1032: 370–373.

41.

Frank

et al.

Chitosan gel containing polymeric nanocapsules: a new formulation for vaginal drug delivery. Int J Nanomed 2014; 9: 3151–3161.

42.

Contri

et al.

Combined effect of polymeric nanocapsules and chitosan hydrogel on the increase of capsicinoids adhesion to the skin surface. J Biomed Nanotechnol 2014; 10: 820–830.

43.

Febrasgo. Guia prático de condutas: Higiene Genital Feminina, São Paulo: Febrasgo, 2009.

44.

Katzer

et al.

Prednisolone-loaded nanocapsules as ocular drug delivery system: development, in vitro drug release and eye toxicity. J Microencapsulat 2014; 31: 519–528.

45.

Alcântara

Daltin

. A química do processamento têxtil. Química Nova 1996; 3: 320–330.

46.

Drelich AH. Nonwoven textile fabrics (staple fibers). In: Kirk RE and Othmer DF (eds) Encyclopedia of chemical technology. Ann Arbor, MI: Wiley, 1981, pp.104–124.

47.

Hutten

Raw materials for nonwoven filter media. In: Hutten

(ed). Handbook of nonwoven filter media, Delray Beach, FL: Elsevier Science, 2007, pp. 103–194.

48.

Purdy

. Developments in nonwoven fabrics. Text Progr 1983; 12: 1–86.

49.

Abou-Okeil

et al.

Wound dressing based on nonwoven viscose fabrics. Carbohydr Polym 2012; 90: 658–666.

50.

Yang

et al.

New bioactive polyphenols from Theobroma grandilorum (‘‘Capuacu’’). J Nat Prod 2003; 66: 1501–1504.

51.

Yang

Lin

. Properties of chitosan containing PP-g-AA-g-NIPAAm bigraft nonwoven fabric for wound dressing. J Membr Sci 2004; 243: 1–7.

52.

Chen

et al.

Immobilization of chitosan gel with cross-linking reagent on PNIPAAm gel/PP nonwoven composites surface. Mater Sci Eng C 2005; 25: 472–478.

53.

Chen

et al.

Long term water adsorption ratio improvement of polypropylene fabric by plasma pre-treatment and graft polymerization. Polym J 2006; 38: 905–911.

54.

Rossi WS. Estudo de aplicações e testes de durabilidade de microcápsulas em tecidos. MSc Dissertation, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 2012.

55.

Beretta

et al.

Production, characterization and application of eicosane microcapsules in polyurethane foams as a means to improve thermal comfort of wheelchair users. J Eng Sci Technol 2016; 11: 1818–1834.

56.

Cruz LE. Soap kit for women's intimate hygiene and composition of soap for the menstrual period. Patent 20090209657 A1, 20 ago, USA, 2009.

57.

Vanić

Škalko-Basnet

. Nanopharmaceuticals for improved topical vaginal therapy: can they deliver? Eur J Pharmaceut Sci 2013; 50: 29–41.

58.

Leonardi

. Cosmetologia aplicada, São Paulo: Medfarma, 2004, pp. 230–230.