Abstract
The poor aqueous solubility of existing and emerging drugs is a major issue faced by the pharmaceutical industry. Water-miscible organic solvents, termed co-solvents, can be used to enhance the solubility of poorly soluble substances. Typically, drugs with poor aqueous solubility and Log P > 3 are not amenable to delivery across the skin. This study investigated the use of co-solvents as reservoirs to be used in combination with hydrogel-forming microneedles to enhance the transdermal delivery of hydrophobic compounds, namely Nile red, olanzapine and atorvastatin. A custom-made Franz cell apparatus was fabricated to test the suitability of a liquid drug reservoir in combination with polymeric microneedles. A co-solvency approach to reservoir formulation proved effective, with 83.30% ± 9.38% of Nile red dye, dissolved in 1 mL poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG 400), permeating neonatal porcine skin over 24 h. PEG 400 and propylene glycol were found to be suitable reservoir media for olanzapine and atorvastatin, with approximately 50% of each drug delivered after 24 h. This work provides crucial proof-of-concept evidence that the manipulation of microneedle reservoir properties is an effective method to facilitate microneedle-mediated delivery of hydrophobic compounds.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 605 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Pharmaceutics |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 13 Nov 2019 |
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Dive into the research topics of 'Design and Development of Liquid Drug Reservoirs for Microneedle Delivery of Poorly Soluble Drug Molecules'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Student Theses
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Microarray patches for the delivery of the poorly soluble drug olanzapine
Author: McKenna, P., Jul 2022Supervisor: Donnelly, R. (Supervisor), Larraneta Landa, E. (Supervisor) & Kearney, M. (Supervisor)
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy
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Microneedle-mediated transdermal drug delivery of biotherapeutic macromolecules
Author: Courtenay, A., Dec 2021Supervisor: Donnelly, R. (Supervisor), McCrudden, M. (Supervisor) & Woolfson, D. (Supervisor)
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy
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