Key Laboratory of Luminescence Analysis and Molecular Sensing, School of Materials and Energy, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; Yibin Academy of Southwest University, Yibin 644000, China.
West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Int J Pharm. 2024 Dec 5;666:124768. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2024.124768. Epub 2024 Oct 2.
Poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) microneedles (MNs) are hydrogel-based devices that achieve controlled drug delivery kinetics by adjusting the crosslinking density. However, the biosafety of many crosslinking agents used to regulate crosslinking density is not ideal. To avoid crosslinking agents and simplify the preparation process, using two types of polymer homologues with different number-average molecular weights, we have successfully developed a series of PEGDA MNs with controllable crosslinking density (abbreviated as TP-X MNs). The research showed that the mechanical properties and drug release behavior of TP-X MNs could be tuned by simply controlling the weight proportion of two different PEGDA components in MNs. Ex vivo drug delivery experiments indicated that all TP-X MNs exhibited a sustained release profile, and their control range of 336-hour accumulative release rates was from 6.24% to 40.93%. Moreover, we prepared a novel dual-layer PEDGA MN, which can customize the drug loading and release rate in each layer of MN. This work demonstrates a new way to develop hydrogel MNs with adjustable crosslink density and broadens the applications of PEGDA MN in the biomedical field.
聚乙二醇二丙烯酸酯（PEGDA）微针（MN）是一种水凝胶基器件，通过调整交联密度来实现控制药物释放动力学。然而，许多用于调节交联密度的交联剂的生物安全性并不理想。为了避免使用交联剂并简化制备过程，我们使用两种具有不同数均分子量的聚合物同系物，成功开发了一系列具有可控交联密度的 PEGDA MN（简称 TP-X MN）。研究表明，通过简单地控制 MN 中两种不同 PEGDA 成分的重量比例，可以调节 TP-X MN 的机械性能和药物释放行为。体外药物输送实验表明，所有 TP-X MN 均表现出持续释放的特性，其 336 小时累积释放率的控制范围为 6.24%至 40.93%。此外，我们还制备了一种新型双层 PEDGA MN，可以定制 MN 各层的药物负载和释放速率。这项工作展示了一种开发具有可调交联密度的水凝胶 MN 的新方法，并拓宽了 PEGDA MN 在生物医学领域的应用。
