Dissolving microneedle-assisted long-acting Liraglutide delivery to control type 2 diabetes and obesity

Integrating nanoparticles (NPs) as a smart and targeted tool for drug delivery with dissolving microneedle (DMN) patch, the non-invasive device for drug delivery, is a promising for future therapeutic delivery applications. Liraglutide (Lira) encapsulation in poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) NPs provides a sustained release of Lira to 15 days in a biphasic profile which 80% of released content happens in the first 8 days. Embedding such sustained release NPs in the DMN comprising poly vinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) 50% w/v, eliminates the need for Lira subcutaneous injection. Additionally, NPs containing DMN enhance mechanical strength of needles to 5.31 N compared to DMN with pure Lira content which was 4.32 N. The flexible backing layer of the DMN was obtained via blending of PVP and poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) in 10% w/v. Circular dichroism (CD) analysis showed that Lira encapsulated in NPs maintained its native secondary structure even after solidification in DMN. In this study, the capacity of 2 kinds of 500 μm and 1000 μm needles to deliver the desired dose of drug was obtained based on experimental and mathematical methods.