Benlysta-Loaded Sodium Alginate Hydrogel and Its Selective Functions in Promoting Skin Cell Growth and Inhibiting Inflammation

Abstract

Benlysta is a new drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) in 2019 for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus. In this study, we loaded the benlysta in the traditional sodium alginate (SA) hydrogel to investigate the potential application of the drug-loaded hydrogel for skin dressing or hypodermic drug. Live/dead staining images and the CCK-8 results showed that the benlysta-loaded hydrogel could promote the growth of human epidermal cells (HaCat), fibroblasts (L929), and endothelial cells while inhibiting the aggregation of inflammatory cells (macrophages). In addition, the hydrogel degradation and drug release are slow and controllable, and the gel time of drug-loaded hydrogel can be adjusted by adding sodium alginate ratios according to the requirement. In summary, we prepared a time-dependent drug-loaded hydrogel for potential application in the treatment of skin injury that may be caused by other diseases.