Poloxamer 407/chitosan micelles can improve α-Tocopherol effect on oral keratinocytes proliferation

This study aimed to produce a Poloxamer 407/Chitosan polymeric system for the controlled release of α-TOC and evaluate its biological properties using normal oral keratinocytes. The production of the polymeric controlled release system involved loading of α-TOC and micellization of the isotropic P407 phase with subsequent encapsulation with chitosan. The chitosan coverage of the micelles was confirmed by the positive zeta potential (+ 12.8 mV). The micelles (TOC-P407-CH) developed had average particle sizes of 193.8 ± 51.0 nm (PDI 0.502 ± 0.068) (α-TOC 50 mg/mL—TOC50-P407-CH) and 714.5 ± 110.18 nm (PDI 0.886 ± 0.196) (α-TOC 200 mg/mL—TOC200-P407-CH) (P = 0.0018) with irregular morphology. The release test by UV–Vis demonstrated a slow and controlled release for TOC50-P407-CH (initial release peak of 82% after the first 5 h). The α-TOC-loaded micelles did not show any cytotoxicity in vitro (P > 0.05). Also, they promoted superior cell proliferation in NOE cells (P < 0.001). This study shows that a controlled release system developed with 50 mg/mL α-TOC has the potential to be used in epithelial cell regeneration. Graphical abstract