Sustainable Drug Release Using Nanoparticle Encapsulated Microneedles.

Microneedle (MN) is a minimally invasive drug delivery method that is directly inserted into the skin without pain to improve the efficiency of transdermal administration and is a drug delivery system used to treat various diseases. Furthermore, nanoparticle (NP)-based drug delivery methods suggest therapeutic strategies to improve drug solubility and increase drug delivery efficiency. Therefore, the drug delivery system in which NPs and MNs are integrated is a promising alternative to the existing delivery methods of poorly soluble and hydrophobic drugs and nucleic acid therapeutics. This system can increase the solubility of drugs and biocompatibility in the body and improve the therapeutic efficacy with sustained drug release. In this review, we investigated recent studies of NPs designed for drug delivery, sustained-release drug delivery MNs based on these NPs, and the applications for clinical treatments.