Combination of microneedles and microemulsions to increase celecoxib topical delivery for potential application in chemoprevention of breast cancer. Mojeiko Gabriela,de Brito Moacir,Salata Giovanna C,Lopes Luciana B International journal of pharmaceutics In spite of the high incidence of breast cancer worldwide, there are few strategies for its chemoprevention, and they have limited adherence mainly due to their serious adverse effects. As a new approach for local breast cancer chemoprevention, we developed and optimized microemulsions for topical delivery of celecoxib to the breast skin, and evaluated their combination with microneedles to improve drug penetration for localization in the mammary tissue. Microemulsions containing water at 15% (ME-15), 29% (ME-29) and 60% (ME-60) were obtained and characterized. They were isotropic, displayed Newtonian behavior and particle size smaller than 100 nm. ME-15 and ME-29 increased transepidermal water loss (TEWL) compared to ME-60, and displayed stronger vascular toxicity, evidenced by hemorrhage and lysis in HET-CAM assays. ME-60 was more efficacious at increasing celecoxib cutaneous and percutaneous delivery (1.3-4-fold). Increasing the number of microneedle roller applications from 1 to 8 increased the number of skin punctures and TEWL; its association with ME-60 promoted no further increase in TEWL, but improved (1.6-4-fold) celecoxib cutaneous and percutaneous delivery. Microemulsion incorporation reduced celecoxib IC in MCF-7 cells (3.3-fold), suggesting that presence of formulation components in the mammary tissue might improve drug cytotoxicity. 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2019.02.011

Hyaluronic acid-oleylamine and chitosan-oleic acid conjugate-based hybrid nanoparticle delivery via. dissolving microneedles for enhanced treatment efficacy in localized breast cancer. Biomaterials advances Microneedle technology offers a minimally invasive treatment strategy to deliver chemotherapeutics to localized tumors. Amalgamating the surface functionalized nanoparticles with microneedle technology can potentially deliver drugs directly to tumors and subsequently target cancer cells via, overexpressed receptors on the cell surface, thereby enhancing the treatment efficacy while reducing side effects. Here, we report cetuximab anchored hyaluronic acid-oleylamine and chitosan-oleic acid-based hybrid nanoparticle (HA-OA/CS-OA NPT)-loaded dissolving microneedles (MN) for targeted delivery of cabazitaxel (CBT) in localized breast cancer tumor. The HA-OA/CS-OA NPT was characterized for their size, surface charge, morphology, physicochemical characteristics, drug release behavior, and in vitro anti-cancer efficacy. The HA-OA/CS-OA NPT were of ~125 nm size, showed enhanced cytotoxicity and cellular uptake, and elicited a superior apoptotic response against MDA-MB-231 cells. Subsequently, the morphology and physicochemical characteristics of HA-OA/CS-OA NPT-loaded MN were also evaluated. The fabricated microneedles were of ~550 μm height and showed loading of nanoparticles equivalent to ~250 μg of CBT. The ex vivo skin permeation study revealed fast dissolution of microneedles upon hydration, while the drug permeation across the skin exhibited ~4-fold improvement in comparison to free drug-loaded MN. In vivo studies performed on DMBA-induced breast cancer in female SD rats showed a marked reduction in tumor volume after administration of drug and nanoparticle-loaded microneedles in comparison to intravenous administration of free drug. However, the HA-OA/CS-OA NPT-MN showed the highest tumor reduction and survival rate, with the lowest body weight reduction in comparison to other treatment groups, indicating its superior efficacy and low systemic toxicity. Overall, the dissolving microneedle-mediated delivery of targeted nanoparticles loaded with chemotherapeutics offers a superior alternative to conventional intravenous chemotherapy. 10.1016/j.bioadv.2024.213865

Application of microneedles combined with dendritic cell-targeted nanovaccine delivery system in percutaneous immunotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer. Nanotechnology This work aims at developing a strategy to activate the antigen-presenting cells to enhance the effect of immunotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) through the dissolving microneedle patch (DMNP). In present study, mannosylated chitosan (MCS) nanoparticles (NPs) were designed to target dendritic cells (DCs), and the immunotherapy effect was enhanced by the adjuvant Bacillus Calmette-Guerin polysaccharide (BCG-PSN), achieving the purpose of transdermal immunotherapy for TNBC. Vaccination studies with mice demonstrated that MCS NPs effectively induce DCs maturation in the tumor-draining lymph nodes to stimulate strong immune responses in TNBC. Overall, chitosan-based DMNPs with complex adjuvant constituted a new potent transdermal vaccine delivery platform capable of exploiting more DCs in the skin for effective immunization. 10.1088/1361-6528/ace97b

Dissolvable microneedle patch containing doxorubicin and docetaxel is effective in 4T1 xenografted breast cancer mouse model. Bhatnagar Shubhmita,Bankar Neha Gajanan,Kulkarni Mrunal Vijay,Venuganti Venkata Vamsi Krishna International journal of pharmaceutics Microneedle-devices provide a promising alternative to syringe-injection-based administration of chemotherapeutics. Dissolvable polymeric microneedles provide possibility of carrying greater payload and dual drugs. Here, we report development of polyvinyl pyrrolidone and polyvinyl alcohol composite dissolvable polymeric microneedle system for co-delivery of doxorubicin HCl and docetaxel. Microneedle patches were characterized using stereomicroscope, scanning electron microscope, texture analyzer and confocal microscope. The greatest amount of doxorubicin and docetaxel loaded within one microneedle patch was 533 ± 65 and 227 ± 23 µg, respectively. Ex-vivo studies in excised murine skin revealed insertion of microneedles and permeation of chemotherapeutics without lag time. Microneedles dissolved within 1 h of insertion in excised skin. Effectiveness of the delivery system was determined in 4T1 breast cancer cells xenografted athymic Balb/c mouse model. Intra-tumoral injection of doxorubicin and doxorubicin + docetaxel combination showed significant toxicity to animals evidenced by drastic reduction in the body weight and 100 percent death within 9-days and after 2-dose administration. Interestingly, doxorubicin and docetaxel administered using microneedles either alone or in combination showed significantly greater survival (100% survival after 16-days and 4-dose administration) compared with intratumoral injections. The normalized body weight, tumor volume and DNA fragmentation assay indicated superior effect of microneedle patch application. Furthermore, co-delivery of doxorubicin and docetaxel, controlled the tumor growth better than the administration of single molecules. Taken together, minimally invasive dissolvable microneedle patch application could compliment painful catheter assisted syringe injections to deliver combination chemotherapeutics. 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2018.12.022

Development and preclinical evaluation of microneedle-assisted resveratrol loaded nanostructured lipid carriers for localized delivery to breast cancer therapy. International journal of pharmaceutics Resveratrol (RVT) is one of the potent anticancer phytochemicals which has shown promising potential for breast cancer therapy. However, its short half-life and low bioavailability is a major hurdle in its effective use. In this study, we have developed nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) of RVT to enable localized delivery of the drug to the breast tissues using microneedle arrays to improve effectiveness. The NLCs were optimized using the Design of Experiments approach and characterized for their particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential and entrapment efficiency. The RVT-NLCs delivered using microneedle array 1200 showed a higher permeation of RVT across the skin with lower skin retention compared to pure RVT. Further, RVT-NLCs showed higher anticancer activity on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines and enhanced internalization compared to pure RVT. Moreover, the RVT-NLCs were found to inhibit the migration of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. Preclinical studies in rats showed that RVT-NLCs delivered via microneedles demonstrated a remarkable increase in the C, T and AUC, and a higher localization in breast tissue compared to pure RVT administered orally. These results suggests that the RVT-NLCs administered by microneedle array system is an effective strategy for the local delivery of RVT for breast cancer therapy. 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.120877