Customizable glucose-responsive gelatin methacryloyl-based hydrogel microneedle patches for antibacterial therapy and promoted diabetic wound healing.

In this work, a glucose-responsive hydrogel microneedle has been developed by combining 3D-printed molds with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), enabling on-demand adjustment of microneedle shape, height (500-900 μm) and base area (10-1000 mm). The hydrogel microneedles are fabricated from gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) and poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), loaded with glucose oxidase (GOx) as the responsive component and molybdenum disulfide (MoS) as the catalyst. The GelMA-PEGDA hydrogel for microneedles exhibits a high compressive strength of 1.45 MPa and demonstrates excellent drug-loading and sustained-release capabilities, releasing 55 % of its doxycycline load within 90 min. The GOx/MoS microneedle system shows a high antibacterial efficiency (91.1 %) against Staphylococcus aureus and durable effect (>6 days) in the long-term inhibition zone tests. In vitro cellular experiments demonstrate that these microneedles exhibit low biotoxicity. Further in vivo animal experiments confirm promoted wound healing and antibacterial efficacy, with microneedle-treated wounds exhibiting a 19 % higher healing rate compared to the control group after 7 days. This work provides a method for the customized and rapid fabrication of microneedles for various application, demonstrating great potential for reducing bacterial infections and promoting healing in diabetic wounds. Next-generation microneedle research may explore integrated sensing or real-time monitoring to enhance the therapeutic efficacy.