title: Microneedles for drug delivery via the gastrointestinal tract.
abstract: Both patients and physicians prefer the oral route of drug delivery. The gastrointestinal (GI) tract, though, limits the bioavailability of certain therapeutics because of its protease and bacteria-rich environment as well as general pH variability from pH 1 to 7. These extreme environments make oral delivery particularly challenging for the biologic class of therapeutics. Here, we demonstrate proof-of-concept experiments in swine that microneedle-based delivery has the capacity for improved bioavailability of a biologically active macromolecule. Moreover, we show that microneedle-containing devices can be passed and excreted from the GI tract safely. These findings strongly support the success of implementation of microneedle technology for use in the GI tract.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Traverso
authors.forename: Carl M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Schoellhammer
authors.forename: Avi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schroeder
authors.forename: Ruby
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maa
authors.forename: Gregory Y
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Lauwers
authors.forename: Baris E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Polat
authors.forename: Daniel G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blankschtein
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Langer
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D001682:Biological Availability; D001688:Biological Products / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008845:Microinjections / Q000295:instrumentation*; D009339:Needles; D012984:Software; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products; D007328:Insulin
keywords: drug delivery systems; gastrointestinal; macromolecular drug delivery; membrane transport; microneedles; mucosal drug delivery; oral drug delivery; pill