Chitosan-based Microneedle Patches containing Insulin-Cyclodextrin for Sustained Transdermal Delivery

Dissolving polymer microneedles have attracted much attention for their biocompatibility, fast dissolution, and high drug loading. Polymer microneedles incorporated with encapsulating drugs were developed to serve as a minimally invasive method of controlled-release drug delivery that does not involve the pain and inconvenience of hypodermic needle injection. In this research, insulin was encapsulated in cyclodextrin and incorporated into dissolving polymer microneedles based on chitosan. Obtained microneedles were characterized with XRD, FTIR spectroscopy and SEM. The drug release pattern from polymeric microneedles in the phosphate buffered saline was measured during a 24 hours period using UV-spectrophotometry. The obtained experimental results indicated drug release with a very slight burst initially and became sustained later with the maximum drug released around a period of 24 hours.  By increasing the cyclodextrin amount, the cumulative release amount in the microneedles increased.