Beijing Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, PR China.
Department of Dermatology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, East Street Cherry Park, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, PR China; Graduate School, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.
Eur J Pharm Biopharm. 2021 Jul;164:20-27. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2021.04.016. Epub 2021 Apr 23.
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease, in which the key features are epidermis hyperplasia, hyper-keratinization, leading to low drug absorption. As an approach of transdermal drug delivery, the microneedle (MN) has received increasing attentions for its painless penetration and efficient administration. In this study, we fabricated polylactic acid polymer MNs with hot-press method and established a psoriasis-like skin inflammation model in ear and dorsal skin of mice by topical application of imiquimod (IMQ). The dynamometer and insertion test of MNs into parafilm and skin of mice were done, revealing that the MNs have sufficient mechanical properties to insert parafilm and skin of mice. The two methods (apply calcipotriol (CAL) directly and pre-treat with MNs before applying CAL) were used to treat psoriasis and observe the skin inflammation, including skin and epidermal thickening, spleen weight gain, inflammatory cell infiltration, and expression of inflammatory cytokines of TNF-α. Both methods have a therapeutic effect and the effect of the MN pretreatment group is better. In addition, there are statistical differences between the two groups (P < 0.05). These features indicated that the MNs may be promising in future clinical applications in improving the imiquimod-induced psoriasis like dermatitis.
银屑病是一种慢性炎症性皮肤病，其主要特征是表皮过度增生、过度角化，导致药物吸收不良。作为一种透皮给药的方法，微针（MN）因其无痛穿透和高效给药而受到越来越多的关注。在本研究中，我们采用热压法制备了聚乳酸聚合物 MN，并通过在小鼠耳部和背部皮肤涂抹咪喹莫特（IMQ）建立了一种银屑病样皮肤炎症模型。对 MN 进行了测力计和插入测试，结果表明 MN 具有足够的机械性能，可以插入小鼠的 Parafilm 和皮肤。采用两种方法（直接涂抹卡泊三醇（CAL）和 MN 预处理后再涂抹 CAL）治疗银屑病，并观察皮肤炎症，包括皮肤和表皮增厚、脾脏增重、炎症细胞浸润和 TNF-α 等炎症细胞因子的表达。两种方法均有治疗作用，MN 预处理组的效果更好。此外，两组之间存在统计学差异（P<0.05）。这些特征表明 MN 在改善咪喹莫特诱导的银屑病样皮炎方面具有良好的临床应用前景。
