Abstract
In many clinical applications, the transdermal route is used as an alternative approach to avoid the significant limitations associated with oral drug delivery. There is a long history for drug delivery through the skin utilizing transdermal microneedle arrays. Microneedles are reported to be versatile and very efficient devices. This technique has spurred both industrial and scientific curiosity, due to its outstanding characteristics such as painless penetration, affordability, excellent medicinal efficiency, and relative protection. Microneedles possess outstanding properties for diverse biomedical uses such as the delivery of very large substances with ionic and hydrophilic physicochemical properties. Importantly, microneedles are applicable in numerous biomedical fields such as therapy, diagnosis, and vaccine administration. Microneedles are emerging tools that have shown profound potential for biomedical applications. Transdermal microneedle technologies are likely to become a preferred route of therapeutic substances administration in the future since they are effective, painless, and affordable. In this review, we summarize recent advances in microneedles for therapeutic applications. We explore their constituent materials and fabrication methods that improve the delivery of critical therapeutic substances through the skin. We further discuss the practicality of advanced microneedles used as drug delivery tools.
Highlights
To deliver drugs through the transdermal route, what is commonly used, are topical creams and hypodermic needles
Immune-based methods typically investigate the delivery of vaccines to the skin, the body’s main immunological organ that is heavily populated with antigen-presenting cells (APCs), such as dendritic cells, macrophages, and Langerhans cells [87]
The study showed that insulin-charged phase transition microneedle (PTM) showed a transdermal bioavailability of more than 20% in the pharmacokinetic and efficacy trials using pig models The PTM patch could apply to several protein/peptide drugs which require regular dosing by providing painless management, freedom from refrigeration and limited concerns on safety [109]
Summary
To deliver drugs through the transdermal route, what is commonly used, are topical creams and hypodermic needles. The low bioavailability of topical creams and the pain associated with hypodermic needles, present major challenges in transdermal drug delivery. Intravenous and intra-arterial drug administration is the most hazardous routes of administration This is because high concentrations of drugs may be delivered to organs as rapidly without control, thereby eliciting toxic effects which might be associated with severe pain [11]. The arrival of microneedle-based transdermal delivery overcomes challenges such as patient compliance, discomfort, infection risk, restricted drug penetration concentration and longterm care compared to traditional delivery techniques [13]. Transdermal Patch Cohesive patch placed on the skin Steady Pain-free Sparse Compliant
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