Silk Fibroin/Poly(vinyl Alcohol) Microneedles as Carriers for the Delivery of Singlet Oxygen Photosensitizers.
Jose Eduardo Ulloa RojasVivian Leite de OliveiraDaniele Ribeiro de AraújoGiovana Radomille TofoliMatheus Mendes de OliveiraDanilo Justino CarastanMoises PalaciFrancesca GiuntiniWendel Andrade AlvesPublished in: ACS biomaterials science & engineering (2021)
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a medical treatment in which a combination of a photosensitizing drug and visible light produces highly cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) that leads to cell death. One of the main drawbacks of PDT for topical treatments is the limited skin penetration of some photosensitizers commonly used in this therapy. In this study, we propose the use of polymeric microneedles (MNs) prepared from silk fibroin and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) to increase the penetration efficiency of porphyrin as possible applications in photodynamic therapy. The microneedle arrays were fabricated from mixtures in different proportions (1:0, 7:3, 1:1, 3:7, and 0:1) of silk fibroin and PVA solutions (7%); the polymer solutions were cast in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) molds and dried overnight. Patches containing grids of 10 × 10 microneedles with a square-based pyramidal shape were successfully produced through this approach. The polymer microneedle arrays showed good mechanical strength under compression force and sufficient insertion depth in both Parafilm M and excised porcine skin at different application forces (5, 20, 30, and 40 N) using a commercial applicator. We observe an increase in the cumulative permeation of 5-[4-(2-carboxyethanoyl) aminophenyl]-10,15,20-tris-(4-sulphonatophenyl) porphyrin trisodium through porcine skin treated with the polymer microneedles after 24 h. MNs may be a promising carrier for the transdermal delivery of photosensitizers for PDT, improving the permeation of photosensitizer molecules through the skin, thus improving the efficiency of this therapy for topical applications.
Keyphrases
- photodynamic therapy
- wound healing
- tissue engineering
- cell death
- fluorescence imaging
- reactive oxygen species
- soft tissue
- visible light
- healthcare
- drug delivery
- emergency department
- alcohol consumption
- dna damage
- oxidative stress
- optical coherence tomography
- cell cycle arrest
- stem cells
- cell therapy
- drug induced
- metal organic framework
- combination therapy