Controlled transdermal delivery of model drug compounds by MEMS microneedle array

This article reports an in vitro study of microneedle-array-enhanced transdermal transport of model drug compounds dispersed in chitosan films. Each microneedle array has 400 out-of-plane, needle-shaped microstructures fabricated using micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology to ensure adequate mechanical strength and high precision, and consistency. A nanometer coating on the microneedles ensured the biocompatibility that is important in the application of transdermal drug delivery. Model drugs selected to investigate skin permeation in vitro were calcein, a small molecule (molecular weight, 623 d) that has little skin penetration, and bovine serum albumin (BSA) (molecular weight, 66,000 d), a hydrophilic biological macromolecule. A Franz permeation cell was used to characterize the permeation rate of calcein and BSA through the rat skin. The transdermal transport behavior of BSA was investigated from solid films coated on the surface of microneedle arrays with various chitosan concentrations, film thicknesses, and BSA contents. The BSA permeation rate decreased with the increase of the chitosan concentration; the thicker the film, the slower the permeation rate. In addition, the permeation rate increased with the increase of BSA loading dose. A linear relationship existed between the permeation rate and the square root of the BSA loading dose. Results showed that the chitosan hydrophilic polymer film acts as a matrix that can regulate the BSA release rate. The controlled delivery of BSA can be achieved using the BSA-containing chitosan matrix film incorporated with the microneedle arrays. This will provide a possible way for the transdermal delivery of macromolecular therapeutic agents such as proteins and vaccines.     

Challenges and strategies in developing microneedle patches for transdermal delivery of protein and peptide therapeutics

The birth of microneedles, an array of needles sufficiently long to penetrate epidermis but small enough to do not cause skin injury and pain feeling, has offered a highly promising solution for non-invasive delivery of protein and peptide drugs, a long-cherished desire over eighty years. However, the attempts to develop clinically feasible microneedle transdermal delivery methods encountered series of difficulties, for which a decade research efforts have yet to result in a single product. Microneedles may be incorporated into devices as skin pre-treatment tools, skin microinjectors as well as transdermal patches by their functions in drug delivery. They may also be categorized to insoluble solid microneedles, hollow microneedles, soluble/degradable solid microneedles and phase-transition microneedles by their structure and forming materials. This review article is aimed to update the progress and discuss the technical challenges raised in developing protein/peptide loaded microneedle patches.     

Effect of microneedle on the pharmacokinetics of ketoprofen from its transdermal formulations

Non-invasive transdermal delivery using microneedle arrays was recently introduced to deliver a variety of large and hydrophilic compounds into the skin, including proteins and DNA. In this study, a microneedle array was applied to the delivery of a hydrophobic drug, ketoprofen, to determine if transdermal delivery in rats can be improved without the need for permeation enhancers. The ability of a microneedle to increase the skin permeability of ketoprofen was tested using the following procedure. A microneedle array was inserted into the lower back skin of a rat using a clip for 10 min. Subsequently, 24 mg/kg of a ketoprofen gel was loaded on the same site where the microneedle had been applied. Simultaneously, the microneedle was coated with 24 mg/kg of a ketoprofen gel, and inserted into the skin using a clip for 10 min. As a negative control experiment, only 24 mg/kg of the ketoprofen gel was applied to the shaved lower back of a rat. Blood samples were taken at the indicated times. The plasma concentration (C_p) was obtained as a function of time (t), and the pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated using the BE program. The group loaded with the microneedle coated with ketoprofen gel showed a 1.86-fold and 2.86-fold increase in the AUC and C_max compared with the ketoprofen gel alone group. These results suggest that a microneedle can be an ideal tool for transdermal delivery products.     

微针与新型经皮给药载体结合的研究进展

经皮给药系统具有给药方便、血药浓度稳定、无首过效应等优点,但皮肤的屏障作用使得药物难以透过皮肤。近年来,出现了很多新型经皮给药的药物载体,如脂质体、醇质体、囊泡等,这些能通过化学方法促进药物的经皮渗透。而微针能穿透皮肤角质层形成微孔通道,通过物理方法促进药物的渗透,将微针与新型经皮给药载体结合能显著提高药物的经皮吸收的速率。本文对微针与新型经皮给药载体结合的最新研究进行了综述,并展望了微针辅助新型药物载体经皮给药的发展前景。     

Transdermal delivery of relatively high molecular weight drugs using novel self-dissolving microneedle arrays fabricated from hyaluronic acid and their characteristics and safety after application to the skin

The purpose of this study was to develop novel dissolving microneedle arrays fabricated from hyaluronic acid (HA) as a material and to improve the transdermal permeability of relatively high molecular weight drugs. In this study, fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled dextran with an average molecular weight of 4 kDa (FD4) was used as a model drug with a relatively high molecular weight. The microneedle arrays significantly increased transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and reduced transcutaneous electrical resistance (TER), indicating that they could puncture the skin and create drug permeation pathways successfully. Both TEWL and TER almost recovered to baseline levels in the microneedle array group, and relatively small pathways created by the microneedles rapidly recovered as compared with those created by a tape stripping treatment. These findings confirmed that the microneedle arrays were quite safe. Furthermore, we found that the transdermal permeability of FD4 using the microneedle arrays was much higher than that of the FD4 solution. Furthermore, we found that the microneedle arrays were much more effective for increasing the amount of FD4 accumulated in the skin.These findings indicated that using novel microneedle arrays fabricated from HA is a very useful and effective strategy to improve the transdermal delivery of drugs, especially relatively high molecular weight drugs without seriously damaging the skin.     

难溶性多西紫杉醇的溶解微针制备及体外评价

目的:制备一种用于透皮给药的负载多西紫杉醇(DTX)的溶解微针,并进行体外评价。方法:考察不同材料及配方制备DTX溶解微针(DTX-MN),通过外观和力学性能指标对微针进行表征,测定微针针头载药量。使用猪皮肤考察微针溶解性能。剥离小鼠腹部皮肤,进行体外透皮吸收研究,初步考察DTX-MN给药后的皮肤药代动力学。结果:成功制备了针头完整、力学性能良好的DTX-MN,最佳工艺得到的微针针头载药量为(14.81±4.20)μg (n=5),微针能完整插入皮肤穿透角质层屏障,且在10 min内完全溶解。体外透皮实验显示,DTX-MN的初始透皮速率和累积透皮通量都高于药物溶液组,相比溶液组,DTX-MN在24 h后累积渗透量提高了3.27倍,其释放机制符合Fickian扩散。结论:制备的DTX-MN有良好的穿刺皮肤的性能,能够显著促进DTX的透皮递送,该类微针有望促进DTX的浅表皮肤递送,具有潜在的临床应用价值。     

不锈钢微针经皮给药的研究

目的：将不锈钢微针阵列应用于经皮给药。考察离体大鼠皮肤经不同针形微针预处理相同时间、相同针形微针预处理不同时间后，模型药物鬼臼毒素经大鼠皮肤的透皮能力。方法：微针预处理大鼠皮肤后，用改进的Franz扩散池研究鬼臼毒素对皮肤的透皮速率。高效液相色谱法测定鬼臼毒素的含量。结果：皮肤经微针预处理后进行鬼臼毒素透皮，其透皮速率比未经微针处理时有明显提高。三角形微针、梯形微针、矛形微针对鬼臼毒素的促渗能力依次增强；三者所引起的鬼臼毒素在皮肤中的滞留量有显著差异。同种针形微针预处理皮肤时间越长，鬼臼毒素的透皮速率越大；但微针预处理时间对皮肤中的药物滞留量无显著影响。结论：微针用于药物经皮给药时，微针针形、微针的预处理时间对药物的经皮渗透具有重要影响。     

胰岛素相转化水凝胶微针透皮贴片

本研究采用化学惰性、可吸收体液溶涨从玻璃态变为水凝胶态的聚合物材料制备了可用于胰岛素透皮给药的微针贴剂,相转化水凝胶微针贴膜。胰岛素是1型和晚期2型糖尿病的必用药。针尖穿透表皮后吸收体液溶涨,使预先担栽的胰岛素在真皮层高效而精确地释放出来,同时不留下针尖物质在皮层的沉积。上述性质使得相转化水凝胶微针贴膜成为需要一生频繁用药的蛋白、多酞药物的理想剂型。     

新型经皮传递胰岛素透明质酸微针制剂的制备及性能考察

目的证明透明质酸微针制剂在药物经皮传递系统方面的应用前景。方法通过皮肤及微针的显微照片考察微针刺入皮肤的性能和在大鼠体内的溶解性能;用皮肤刺激性实验评价透明质酸微针的安全性;以人的离体皮肤为透皮释药模型,通过体外经皮通透实验考察微针对模型药物胰岛素经皮吸收的促进作用。结果微针能够均匀刺穿角质层,在皮肤表面产生与微针一致的阵列形状,在皮肤断面可观察到直至真皮层的通道;在大鼠体内使用1 h后,针体能够完全溶解,皮肤刺激性指数为1.7,属于轻度刺激性;体外经皮实验中,微针中的胰岛素能够以活性形式释放,与同剂量的溶液相比,微针对胰岛素的体外经皮吸收具有显著的促进作用,稳态通透速率达75.33×10-6U.cm-2.h-1。结论以透明质酸为基质制备的微针具有良好的皮肤刺入性、溶解性和轻度的刺激性,对于生物大分子类药物的经皮吸收有明显的促进作用,具有良好的开发前景。     

多肽透皮给药研究进展

针对近年来多种多肽类药物的透皮给药系统进行综述。通过查阅国内外多种相关期刊文献。将多肽类药物透皮给药方法分为化学促渗剂、多种物理促渗技术,以及透皮肽、微针技术并对其进行论述。反向离子导入技术应用前景广阔,微针给药系统研究逐步深入,出现了胰岛素智能化微针给药系统,透皮肽的研究发展迅速,相信未来多种蛋白质及多肽的透皮给药方式将应用于临床,极大地促进医疗事业的发展。     

Microneedles for transdermal drug delivery

The success of transdermal drug delivery has been severely limited by the inability of most drugs to enter the skin at therapeutically useful rates. Recently, the use of micron-scale needles in increasing skin permeability has been proposed and shown to dramatically increase transdermal delivery, especially for macromolecules. Using the tools of the microelectronics industry, microneedles have been fabricated with a range of sizes, shapes and materials. Most drug delivery studies have emphasized solid microneedles, which have been shown to increase skin permeability to a broad range of molecules and nanoparticles in vitro. In vivo studies have demonstrated delivery of oligonucleotides, reduction of blood glucose level by insulin, and induction of immune responses from protein and DNA vaccines. For these studies, needle arrays have been used to pierce holes into skin to increase transport by diffusion or iontophoresis or as drug carriers that release drug into the skin from a microneedle surface coating. Hollow microneedles have also been developed and shown to microinject insulin to diabetic rats. To address practical applications of microneedles, the ratio of microneedle fracture force to skin insertion force (i.e. margin of safety) was found to be optimal for needles with small tip radius and large wall thickness. Microneedles inserted into the skin of human subjects were reported as painless. Together, these results suggest that microneedles represent a promising technology to deliver therapeutic compounds into the skin for a range of possible applications.     

Effects of pretreatment of needle puncture and sandpaper abrasion on the in vitro skin permeation of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran

Microneedle systems have gained attention as having many advantages over transdermal patches and hypodermic needles. The procedure provides adequate skin permeation rates without pain or severe infection. To obtain information for designing a microneedle system, macroneedles were used instead of microneedles to investigate the effects of pretreatment of needle puncture in the skin barrier stratum corneum on in vitro skin permeation of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextrans (4.3, 9.6 and 42.0 kDa) (FD-4, FD-10 and FD-40). The effect of sandpaper abrasion was also investigated for comparison. Both pretreatments on the skin barrier significantly increased the skin permeation of FDs. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leaching was measured after pretreatment of macroneedle and sandpaper abrasion on the skin to evaluate the skin damage by these pretreatment methods. Lower leaching of LDH was observed after macroneedle puncture than after sandpaper abrasion. Next, a parallel permeation-resistance model of the skin barrier was established. Skin permeation of FD-10 was predicted by the model as a function of the number of pores in the skin barrier. Our results suggest that needle puncture may provide a safe, efficient and controllable alternative for increasing transdermal drug delivery.     

Electron beam irradiation: a novel technology for the development of transdermal system of isosorbide dinitrate

The development of a transdermal delivery system for isosorbide dinitrate (ISDN) using electron beam irradiation was studied. The solid state stability of the drug to irradiation was assessed. The drug was dissolved in 2-ethylhexylacrylate (EHA)-acrylic acid (AA) system and this solution was directly irradiated on a backing membrane (Scotchpak^®1006) at different doses to get transdermal patches. The developed systems were evaluated for residual monomer content, equilibrium weight swelling ratios (EWSR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), weight uniformity, thickness uniformity, drug content and content uniformity, peel strength, in vitro release, skin permeation kinetics and skin irritation potential. The developed system possessed excellent adhesive properties. Increase in the irradiation doses did not have a significant effect on the peel strength values. The systems exhibited promising skin permeation kinetics and no skin irritating potential, both of which are important properties for transdermal drug delivery. The ISDN-EHA-AA system developed at an irradiation dose of 50 kGy showed a higher skin permeation profile as compared to an internationally marketed transdermal matrix system of ISDN.     

新型药物载体-醇质体的特点及研究进展

醇质体作为一种新型脂质体,具有包封率高、变形性好、皮肤刺激性小、透皮效果佳、皮肤滞留量大、可以进行细胞内传递药物等优点,使其在经皮给药过程中更加有效.本文根据国内外文献,对醇质体的特点、透皮吸收性及在抗感染药、激素透皮给药、关节炎用药及大分子药物透皮递送等方面的应用进行综述,结果表明醇质体具有良好的应用前景和开发价值.     

Influence of the delivery systems using a microneedle array on the permeation of a hydrophilic molecule, calcein.

Despite the advantages of drug delivery through the skin, such as easy accessibility, convenience, prolonged therapy, avoidance of the liver first-pass metabolism and a large surface area, transdermal drug delivery is only used with a small subset of drugs because most compounds cannot cross the skin at therapeutically useful rates. Recently, a new concept was introduced known as microneedles and these could be pierced to effectively deliver drugs using micron-sized needles in a minimally invasive and painless manner. In this study, biocompatible polycarbonate (PC) microneedle arrays with various depths (200 and 500mum) and densities (45, 99 and 154ea/cm(2)) were fabricated using a micro-mechanical process. The skin permeability of a hydrophilic molecule, calcein (622.5D), was examined according to the delivery systems of microneedle, drug loading, depth of the PC microneedle, and density of the PC microneedle. The skin permeability of calcein was the highest when the calcein gel was applied to the skin with the 500mum-depth PC microneedle, simultaneously. In addition, the skin permeability of calcein was the highest when 0.1g of calcein gel was coupled to the 500mum-depth PC microneedle (154ea/cm(2)) as well as longer microneedles and larger density of microneedles. Taken together, this study suggests that a biocompatible PC microneedle might be a suitable tool for transdermal drug delivery system of hydrophilic molecules with the possible applications to macromolecules such as proteins and peptides.     

Transdermal patches: history,development and pharmacology

Transdermal patches are now widely used as cosmetic, topical and transdermal delivery systems. These patches represent a key outcome from the growth in skin science, technology and expertise developed through trial and error, clinical observation and evidence-based studies that date back to the first existing human records. This review begins with the earliest topical therapies and traces topical delivery to the present-day transdermal patches, describing along the way the initial trials, devices and drug delivery systems that underpin current transdermal patches and their actives. This is followed by consideration of the evolution in the various patch designs and their limitations as well as requirements for actives to be used for transdermal delivery. The properties of and issues associated with the use of currently marketed products, such as variability, safety and regulatory aspects, are then described. The review concludes by examining future prospects for transdermal patches and drug delivery systems, such as the combination of active delivery systems with patches, minimally invasive microneedle patches and cutaneous solutions, including metered-dose systems.     

Microneedle mediated delivery of nanoparticles into human skin

The development of novel cutaneous delivery technologies that can produce micron-sized channels within the outermost skin layers has stimulated interest in the skin as an interface for localised and systemic delivery of macromolecular and nanoparticulate therapeutics. This investigation assesses the contribution of physicochemical factors to the rate and extent of nanoparticle delivery through microchannels created in a biological tissue, the skin, by novel delivery technologies such as the microneedle array. The hydrodynamic diameter, zeta potential and surface morphology of a representative fluorescent nanoparticle formulation were characterised. Permeation studies using static Franz-type diffusion cells assessed (i) the diffusion of nanoparticle formulations through a model membrane containing uniform cylindrical microchannels of variable diameter and (ii) nanoparticle penetration across microneedle treated human skin. Wet-etch microneedle array devices can be used to significantly enhance the intra/transdermal delivery of nanoparticle formulations. However the physicochemical factors, microchannel size and particle surface charge, have a significant influence on the permeation and subsequent distribution of a nanoparticle formulation within the skin. Further work is required to understand the behaviour of nanoparticle formulations within the biological environment and their interaction with the skin layers following disruption of the skin barrier with novel delivery devices such as the microneedle array.     

Challenges and opportunities in dermal/transdermal delivery

Transdermal drug delivery is an exciting and challenging area. There are numerous transdermal delivery systems currently available on the market. However, the transdermal market still remains limited to a narrow range of drugs. Further advances in transdermal delivery depend on the ability to overcome the challenges faced regarding the permeation and skin irritation of the drug molecules. Emergence of novel techniques for skin permeation enhancement and development of methods to lessen skin irritation would widen the transdermal market for hydrophilic compounds, macromolecules and conventional drugs for new therapeutic indications. As evident from the ongoing clinical trials of a wide variety of drugs for various clinical conditions, there is a great future for transdermal delivery of drugs.     

胰岛素相转化水凝胶微针透皮贴片

本研究采用化学惰性、可吸收体液溶涨从玻璃态变为水凝胶态的聚合物材料制备了可用于胰岛素透皮给药的微针贴剂,相转化水凝胶微针贴膜。胰岛素是1型和晚期2型糖尿病的必用药。针尖穿透表皮后吸收体液溶涨,使预先担栽的胰岛素在真皮层高效而精确地释放出来,同时不留下针尖物质在皮层的沉积。上述性质使得相转化水凝胶微针贴膜成为需要一生频繁用药的蛋白、多酞药物的理想剂型。     

Improved stability and release control of levodopa and metaraminol using ion-exchange fibers and transdermal iontophoresis

Achievement of controlled drug delivery and stability of drugs during storage is a problem also in transdermal drug delivery. The objective of this study was to determine, whether an easily oxidized drug, levodopa, could be stabilized during storage using pH-adjustment and ion-exchange fibers. Controlled transdermal delivery of the zwitterionic levodopa was attempted by iontophoresis and ion-exchange fiber. Ion-exchange kinetics and transdermal permeation of a cationic (presumably more stable) model drug, metaraminol, were compared to the corresponding data of levodopa. Levodopa was rapidly oxidized in the presence of water, especially at basic pH-values. At acidic pH-values the stability was improved significantly. Ion-exchange group and the pH had a clear effect on the release of both the levodopa and metaraminol from the ion-exchange fiber. The adsorption/release kinetics of metaraminol were more easily controllable than the corresponding rate and extent of levodopa adsorption/release. Iontophoretic enhancement of drug permeation across the skin was clearly more significant with the positively charged metaraminol than with the zwitterionic levodopa. Ion-exchange fibers provide a promising alternative to control drug delivery and to store drugs that are degraded easily.