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Nitric Oxide Release Creams for Acne and Wound Care

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Project Overview

Nitric Oxide (NO) is an endogenous gas molecule produced under physiological conditions. NO eradicates bacterial growth without causing antibiotic resistance. As an important signaling molecule, it exerts anti-inflammatory effects, promotes angiogenesis, and normalizes skin cell shedding and sebum production. 

Acne is the most common skin condition worldwide, affecting approximately 650 million people, or about 9.4% of the population. Many different treatments exist for acne but there is still a great need to develop a cheap and easy-to-use medication targeting different symptoms of acne. 

The project team develops a novel nitric oxide (NO) releasing topical ointments/creams that inhibits androgen and lipid synthesis, kill both bacteria and fungi without causing resistance, and can control release by nano-particle maximizes efficacy while eliminates side effects. It can not only be used to treat acne, but will also benefit the healing of infected wounds, and potentially other skin disorders requiring anti-bacterial/anti-fungal and pro-angiogenesis (e.g., formation of new blood vessels) activity. The expected market size in China is 4 billion CNY. The NO releasing cream is currently being tested on human subjects with a well-known pharmaceutical company.


Publications

Selected Publication: Doverspike, Joshua C., et al. "Nitric oxide releasing two-part creams containing S-nitrosoglutathione and zinc oxide for potential topical antimicrobial applications."