TY - JOUR
T1 - Pullulan-based dissolving microneedle arrays for enhanced transdermal delivery of small and large biomolecules
AU - Vora, Lalitkumar K.
AU - Courtenay, Aaron J.
AU - Tekko, Ismaiel A.
AU - Larrañeta, Eneko
AU - Donnelly, Ryan F.
PY - 2020/3/1
Y1 - 2020/3/1
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.12.184
DO - 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.12.184
M3 - Article
VL - 146
SP - 290
EP - 298
JO - International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
JF - International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
SN - 0141-8130
ER -