Medical Design Briefs - August 2023 - 19

Microneedles
Microneedles
Novel Microneedle Array Enables Breakthrough
Treatment
The microneedle patch offers a nonantibiotic approach for the treatment of acne.
A
research team has designed a new microneedle patch
to offer a highly effective nonantibiotic approach for
the treatment of skin infection. In brief, the design
engineered with ultrasound-responsive zinc-based metal-organic
framework (MOF) antibacterial nanoparticles promises
pain-free delivery to treat bacterial infection on skin tissue
and facilitate skin repair at the same time. The team was led
by Prof. Kelvin Yeung Wai-kwok, department of orthopaedics
and traumatology, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of
Medicine, University of Hong Kong (HKUMed). The novel microneedle
is around 50 µm in diameter, similar to a typical hair.
The findings have been published in Science Advances.
Background
Acne is a common skin disease worldwide that affects more
than 80 percent of teenagers and young adults.1 The primary
cause can be attributed to excessive lipid secretion that clogs the
hair follicles, thereby establishing a hypoxic microenvironment
in skin tissue. This undesirable condition particularly favors to
the proliferation of Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) bacteria.
-2
1
3
7
Days
Intradermal injection of P. acnes
Treat acne with different groups
Shaving and taking image
Severity scoring, Inflammatory cytokines and histology
Infected pimples, regarded as one of the skin infections, is mainly
caused by P. acnes bacteria, which affects millions of people
worldwide. It not only causes the patients with significant physical
and emotional distress but may also develop into chronic
inflammatory condition without proper treatment. The clinical
management normally includes nonprescription treatment
(i.e., benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid), or the administration
of antibiotics orally or topically. However, such treatments can
be ineffective or have unpleasant side effects.
In general, the first-line treatment for an infected pimple is
antibiotics administered either oral or topical. However, the
therapeutic effect of topical antibiotic treatment is concerning,
particularly when the drugs pass through the skin tissue. Also,
the treatment becomes less effective when bacteria are drug
resistant or when they migrate to subcutaneous tissue. In addition,
P. acnes bacteria can secrete extracellular polysaccharides
to form biofilm that blocks out the attacks initiated by antibacterial
agents or immune cells.
Most microneedle products on the market mainly use pharmaceutical
ingredients to treat acne. However, repeated appliA
mouse model of acne
Acne cure
Schematic illustration of the 1 × 1 cm microneedle patch for the treatment of acne. (Credit: University of Hong Kong)
US
High charge transfer
πX
O2
3O2
O2 activation
*
*
πy
1O2
π *
X
1O2
Low activation transfer
ZN2+
ZN2+
1O2
1O2
1O2
TNF-a
TNF-a
IL-8
TNF-a
IL-8 MM-P
MM-P
MMP-2
Down-regulation
Skin repairing
Transdermal delivery
Ultrasound triggered
Acne curing
Treatment of acne through efficient ultrasound-triggered antibacterial nanoparticles embedded microneedle patch. (Credit: University of Hong Kong)
Medical Design Briefs, August 2023
www.medicaldesignbriefs.com
IL-8
P. acnes killing
Skin repairing
ZN2+
ZN2+
Rfc4
Dut
LIg1Dctpp1
Mt1 Mt2
Up-regulation
1O2
Rfc3
Mcm6
ZN2+
ZN2+
*
πy
19
P. acnes
P. acnes

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Medical Design Briefs - August 2023

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