title: Fabrication of biodegradable composite microneedles based on calcium sulfate and gelatin for transdermal delivery of insulin.
abstract: To reduce the inconvenience and pain of subcutaneous needle injection, the calcium sulfate and gelatin biodegradable composite microneedle patches with high aspect-ratio microneedles (MNs) and a flexible substrate have been developed. The microneedles with an aspect-ratio approximate 6:1 exhibit excellent mechanical property which can achieve 0.4N for each needle. The cross-section views show the inside of microneedles that have abundant pores and channels which offer potential for different drug-release profiles. The preparation procedures, degradable property for the biodegradable composite microneedle patches are described in the paper. Insulin, the drug to control blood glucose levels in diabetic patients, has been embedded into the biodegradable composite MNs. The hypoglycemic effect for transdermal delivery of insulin is studied using diabetic Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats as models in vivo. After transdermal administration to the diabetic rats, the released insulin from biodegradable composite MNs exhibit an obvious and effective hypoglycemic effect for longer time compared with that of subcutaneous injection route. This work suggests that biodegradable composite MNs containing of insulin have a potential application in diabetes treatment via transdermal ingestion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Zhejiang Sci Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
authors.forename: Weijiang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Zhejiang Sci Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China; National Engineering Laboratory for Textile Fiber Materials and Processing Technology (Zhejiang), Hangzhou 310018, China; Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology (ATMT), Ministry of Education, Hangzhou 310018, China. Electronic address: ghjiang_cn@zstu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Guohua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Zhejiang Sci Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
authors.forename: Depeng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Zhejiang Sci Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Zhejiang Sci Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Zhejiang Sci Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
authors.forename: Yongkun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Zhejiang Sci Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Zhejiang Sci Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China; National Engineering Laboratory for Textile Fiber Materials and Processing Technology (Zhejiang), Hangzhou 310018, China; Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology (ATMT), Ministry of Education, Hangzhou 310018, China.
authors.forename: Zaizai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Zhejiang Sci Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China; National Engineering Laboratory for Textile Fiber Materials and Processing Technology (Zhejiang), Hangzhou 310018, China; Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology (ATMT), Ministry of Education, Hangzhou 310018, China.
authors.forename: Juming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science, Zhejiang Sci Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
authors.forename: Xiangdong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Kong
mesh_terms: D000279:Administration, Cutaneous; D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D002133:Calcium Sulfate / Q000737:chemistry*; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D005780:Gelatin / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D007328:Insulin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D055616:Microtechnology / Q000379:methods*; D009339:Needles; D000067996:RAW 264.7 Cells; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D034421:Sus scrofa
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D007328:Insulin; D005780:Gelatin; D002133:Calcium Sulfate
keywords: Biodegradable; Hypoglycemic effect; Insulin; Microneedles; Transdermal delivery