Abstract
Purpose :
Dry eye syndrome (DED) has become the most common ocular surface disease worldwide. The tear glands of severe DED patients are usually damaged, and achieving drug accumulation in the tear glands is challenging due to the presence of ocular barriers. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a new type of ocular drug delivery system with high delivery efficiency, safety and simplicity, to achieve effective drug enrichment in the lacrimal gland.
Methods :
We report a detachable ROS-responsive microneedle patch loaded with Cyclosporin A and epigallocatechin gallate, which also as a crosslinker of the microneedle matrix, to regulate drug release by sensing ROS at the site of inflammation, achieving on-demand administration and long-term release. Temperature-sensitive polymers were selected as separable layers to achieve controllable separation between the back layer and needle, reducing the discomfort of patients. We have validated the effectiveness of microneedles at the cellular and animal levels.
Results :
Microneedle has a significant protective effect on LPS induced inflammatory cells. Microneedle efficiently diminished the lymphocytic inflammation in lacrimal glands, increased tear secretion, and decreased corneal fluorescein staining in dry eye mice. Meanwhile, treatment of microneedle evidently reduced the proportion of Th1 and Th17 cells and increased the proportion of Treg cells in draining lymph nodes, together with decreased expression of IFN-γ and IL-17, as well as increased expression of Foxp3 in lacrimal glands.
Conclusions :
The ROS-responsive microneedle patches exhibit excellent biocompatibility, drug-sustained release, immunosuppressive, and anti-inflammatory properties in mouse models of DED. Therefore, the microneedle patch, acting as an ocular drug delivery system, is expected to become a cost-effective household solution for treating DED, which may also bring a new approach to the clinical treatment of DED.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.