Nanosuspension-Based Dissolving Microneedle Arrays for Intradermal Delivery of Curcumin

• Published in: Pharmaceutics Vol. 11; no. 7; p. 308
• Main Authors: Abdelghany, Sharif, Tekko, Ismaiel A, Vora, Lalitkumar, Larrañeta, Eneko, Permana, Andi Dian, Donnelly, Ryan F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 02.07.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Bioavailability; curcumin; dissolving microneedles; Drug delivery systems; Ethanol; intradermal; nanosuspension; Particle size; poly(vinylalcohol); Scanning electron microscopy; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; Germany; poly(vinylalcohol); nanosuspension; dissolving microneedles; curcumin; intradermal
• ISSN: 1999-4923; 1999-4923
• DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics11070308

The objective of this study was to evaluate the intradermal delivery of curcumin utilising poly(vinylalcohol) (PVA)-based microneedles loaded with curcumin nanosuspension (CU-NS). Nanoprecipitation was used to formulate the CU-NS which was then incorporated into PVA microneedles arrays consisting of 11 × 11 microneedles of conical shape, measuring 900 µm in height and with 300 µm base diameter. The nanosuspension particle size was 520 ± 40 nm, with a polydispersity of 0.27 ± 0.02 using sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) as a stabiliser. In vitro dissolution studies in 10% Tween 80 showed that the CU-NS dissolved significantly faster than unmodified curcumin powder, with 34% released from the CU-NS, compared to 16% from the curcumin powder after 48 h. The CU-NS-loaded microneedles (CU-MN) were able to withstand a compression force of 32 N for 30 s. Moreover, these microneedles were able to penetrate excised neonatal porcine skin to a depth of 500 µm, dissolved completely in the skin within 60 min. After CU-MN dissolution, the drug diffused from the application site and migrated through the skin layers down to 2300 µm, significantly more than observed with topical application of CU-NS. This suggest that the fabricated microneedles with the incorporated CU-NS could enhance the intradermal delivery of curcumin.