Vora LK, Courtenay AJ, Tekko IA, Larrañeta E, Donnelly RF. Pullulan-based dissolving microneedle arrays for enhanced transdermal delivery of small and large biomolecules.
Int J Biol Macromol 2020;
146:290-298. [PMID:
31883883 PMCID:
PMC7031695 DOI:
10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.12.184]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2019] [Revised: 12/20/2019] [Accepted: 12/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
One specific technological advance in transdermal drug delivery is the development of dissolving microneedles (DMNs), which efficiently deliver therapeutics through a rapid dissolution of polymers after penetration into the skin. However, there is a limited range of water soluble, biodegradable polymers that can be used to manufacture DMN. Here, we report for the first time, the preparation and characterisation of a DMN system from the carbohydrate biopolymer, pullulan (PL). PL gels, of varying concentration, were studied for viscosity, film formation properties, and subsequently, microneedle formation. Model molecules and protein/peptide were loaded into PL DMN and characterised. The stability of model biomolecules, such as FITC-BSA and insulin, following DMN manufacture were assessed using circular dichroism. Ex-vivo porcine skin permeation studies using Franz diffusion cell apparatus for Flu-Na and FITC-BSA loaded PL-DMN were conducted. This study demonstrates that PL DMNs may serve as a promising tool for efficient transdermal drug delivery.
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