CUTANEOUS ABSORPTION OF NANOSTRUCTURED CHITIN ASSOCIATED WITH NATURAL SYNERGISTIC MOLECULES (LUTEIN)

The present investigation of chitin nanofibrils highlighted the hydrophilic properties of chitin (a nanostructured extracellular material) and its effect on cell behaviour as a microenvironmental stimulus. In this respect chitin is similar to dextran and its derivatives, which are capable of "trapping" growth factors (heparin binding factor, TGF-β1, FGF-2) and stimulate cell proliferation. Thus, chitin is also to be considered as a bioactive polymer capable of promoting correct cutaneous trophism. Therefore chitin, albeit indirectly, also controls in the skin epithelium-mesenchyma molecular relationships and the hair follicle cycle. In addition, the influence of polysaccharides on cell biology is related to the osmotic stress generated by their hydrophilicity. These consideration led us to devising a morphofunctional experimental investigation into the dermal-epidermal penetration of chitin nanofibril solutions, which, in the near future, will be an important vehicle for the diffusion of dermato-cosmetological molecules biologically active.