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Microneedles: A Valuable Physical Enhancer to Increase Transdermal Drug Delivery
Author(s) -
EscobarChávez José Juan,
BonillaMartínez Dalia,
Angélica Martha,
MolinaTrinidad Eva,
CasasAlancaster Norma,
RevillaVázquez Alma Luisa
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the journal of clinical pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.92
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1552-4604
pISSN - 0091-2700
DOI - 10.1177/0091270010378859
Subject(s) - transdermal , stratum corneum , drug delivery , drug , pharmacology , penetration (warfare) , biomedical engineering , materials science , medicine , nanotechnology , pathology , operations research , engineering
Transdermal drug delivery offers an attractive alternative to the conventional drug delivery methods of oral administration and injection. However, the stratum corneum acts as a barrier that limits the penetration of substances through the skin. Recently, the use of micron‐scale needles in increasing skin permeability has been proposed and shown to dramatically increase transdermal delivery. Microneedles have been fabricated with a range of sizes, shapes, and materials. Most in vitro drug delivery studies have shown these needles to increase skin permeability to a broad range of drugs that differ in molecular size and weight. In vivo studies have demonstrated satisfactory release of oligonucleotides and insulin and the induction of immune responses from protein and DNA vaccines. Microneedles inserted into the skin of human subjects were reported to be painless. For all these reasons, microneedles are a promising technology to deliver drugs into the skin. This review presents the main findings concerning the use of microneedles in transdermal drug delivery. It also covers types of microneedles, their advantages and disadvantages, enhancement mechanisms, and trends in transdermal drug delivery.