Introduction

Current treatments for herpes labialis have several limitations including suboptimal bioavailability, rapid systemic clearance, and local tissue irritation due to excipients in conventional formulations. Nanofiber technology has advantages like larger surface area-to-volume ratio, which enhances drug solubility and bioavailability. Also, antinucleoside-corticosteroid combined treatment has previously shown to be more effective than antinucleoside alone.

Aim

To compare the therapeutic effects of acyclovir nanofiber and acyclovir-clobetasol nanofiber formulations with their non-nano formulations (cream formulation) on recurrent labial herpes

Patient Profile

• N=80 with recurrent herpes labialis
• Age18-60 years

Methods

• Double-blind prospective case-control clinical trial

  Figure 1: Randomization and Treatment Chart

  

  Treatment frequency and duration: Assigned treatment (cream or nanopatch) three times daily after meals for five consecutive days

  Results

  Time to Recovery

• Groups A1, A2 and A3 had statistically significant improvement in symptoms from the first day compared to baseline. In A4 group, a significant difference was observed after the second day of treatment.

  Acyclovir-Clobetasol formulations (A1 and A2) vs. Acyclovir formulations (A3 and A4)

• Recovery duration for the acyclovir-clobetasol nano patch and cream groups was significantly shorter than that for the acyclovir nano patch and cream groups (P-value: 0)
• Scabbing duration in the two groups receiving acyclovir-clobetasol nano patch and cream was significantly less than that in the two groups receiving acyclovir nano patch and cream (P-value: 0)

  Acyclovir-Clobetasol Nano vs. Cream Groups

• Healing time in acyclovir-clobetasol nano patch group was significantly shorter than that in the acyclovir-clobetasol cream group (P-value: 0.001)

  Table 1: Healing and Scabbing Time for study groups

• Conclusion

• Acyclovir-clobetasol nano patches and cream formulations accelerated pain reduction for recurrent labial herpes lesions compared to traditional acyclovir cream formulations
• Nanofiber formulations had better healing efficacy than cream formulations

Reference

BMC Oral Health (2024) 24:1348