Reactive Oxygen Species-Responsive Gel-Based Microneedle Patches for Prolonged and Intelligent Psoriasis Management

• Published in: ACS nano Vol. 17; no. 5; pp. 4346 - 4357
• Main Authors: Bi, Duohang, Qu, Fei, Xiao, Wanyue, Wu, Jiaxin, Liu, Pei, Du, Hongyao, Xie, Youwei, Liu, Hongmei, Zhang, Lianbin, Tao, Juan, Liu, Yijing, Zhu, Jintao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 14.03.2023
• Subjects: Animals; Drug Delivery Systems; Hydrogen Peroxide - pharmacology; Methotrexate - therapeutic use; Needles; Psoriasis - drug therapy; Reactive Oxygen Species - pharmacology; Skin; microneedle; ROS-responsive; drug delivery; inflammation; psoriasis
• ISSN: 1936-0851; 1936-086X
• DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.2c08979

Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease. Microneedle (MN) patches can improve psoriasis treatment outcomes by increasing local drug content in the skin. As psoriasis frequently relapses, developing intelligent MN-based drug delivery systems with prolonged therapeutic drug levels and improved treatment efficiency is of great significance. Here, we designed detachable H2O2-responsive gel-based MN patches containing methotrexate (MTX) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) by using EGCG as both cross-linkers for needle-composited materials and anti-inflammatory drugs. The gel-based MNs had dual-mode drug release kinetics, which quickly released MTX diffusively and sustainably released EGCG in an H2O2-responsive way. Compared with dissolving MNs, the gel-based MNs extended skin retention of EGCG, leading to prolonged reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging effects. The ROS-responsive MN patches that transdermally delivered antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory drugs improved treatment outcomes in both psoriasis-like and prophylactic psoriasis-like animal models.