authors |
Fonseca, DFS; Costa, PC; Almeida, IF; Dias-Pereira, P; Correia-Sa, I; Bastos, V; Oliveira, H; Duarte-Araujo, M; Morato, M; Vilela, C; Silvestre, AJD; Freire, CSR |
nationality |
International |
journal |
CARBOHYDRATE POLYMERS |
author keywords |
Pullulan; Polysaccharides; Insulin; Microneedles; Transdermal drug delivery |
keywords |
POLYMER MICRONEEDLES; DELIVERY; NANOPARTICLES; FABRICATION; CELLULOSE; ALGINATE; RELEASE; FILMS; ACID |
abstract |
The present study reports the fabrication of dissolvable microneedle (MN) patches using pullulan (PL), a watersoluble polysaccharide with excellent film-forming ability, for the transdermal administration of insulin, envisioning the non-invasive treatment of diabetes. PL MNs patches were successfully prepared by micromoulding and revealed good thermal stability (T-dmax = 294 degrees C) and mechanical properties (> 0.15 N needle(-1)), penetrating skin up to 381 mu m depth, as revealed by in vitro skin tests. After application into human abdominal skin in vitro, the MNs dissolved within 2 h releasing up to 87% of insulin. When stored at 4, 20 and 40 degrees C for 4 weeks, insulin was able to retain its secondary structure, as shown by circular dichroism spectropolarimetry. The prepared PL MNs were non-cytotoxic towards human keratinocytes, being suitable for skin application. These findings suggest that PL MNs have potential to deliver insulin transdermally, thus avoiding its subcutaneous administration. |
publisher |
ELSEVIER SCI LTD |
issn |
0144-8617 |
isbn |
1879-1344 |
year published |
2020 |
volume |
241 |
digital object identifier (doi) |
10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116314 |
web of science category |
Chemistry, Applied; Chemistry, Organic; Polymer Science |
subject category |
Chemistry; Polymer Science |
unique article identifier |
WOS:000539100600049
|
ciceco authors
impact metrics
journal analysis (jcr 2019):
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journal impact factor |
7.182 |
5 year journal impact factor |
6.89 |
category normalized journal impact factor percentile |
96.638 |
dimensions (citation analysis):
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altmetrics (social interaction):
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