Efficacy of transdermal immunotherapy with biodegradable microneedle patches in a murine asthma model

Abstract

Background House dust mite (HDM) is a well‐known cause of asthma. Allergen‐specific immunotherapy (AIT) can only modify the natural course of the disease. Conventional routes of HDM AIT are subcutaneous or sublingual. Subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) has a disadvantage of systemic hypersensitive reaction, and the sublingual immunotherapy has a disadvantage of local allergic reaction and low drug adherence. Objective To overcome the weak points of conventional AIT, we developed a HDM loaded biodegradable microneedle patch (MNP) for transdermal immunotherapy (TDIT). We aim to demonstrate the efficacy of TDIT in murine asthma model triggered by HDM compared with conventional SCIT. Methods To make HDM asthma mouse model, 5‐week‐old BALB/c female mice were sensitized and challenged by intranasal administration of HDM. The mice were divided into 5 groups: sham, asthma, low (10 µg) and high dose (100 µg) SCIT, and TDIT (10 µg). To make HDM loaded MNP, droplet‐born air blowing method was used. Airway hyperresponsiveness and allergic inflammation markers were analysed by bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, immunohistochemistry, serum immunoglobulin (Ig) analysis, and lung cytokine assays. Results Airway hyperresponsiveness was ameliorated by TDIT. Eosinophilic inflammation in bronchoalveolar lavage was improved without adverse reactions. Reduction of Th2 (IL‐4, IL‐5, and IL‐13) cytokines, and HDM‐specific IgE, induction of Treg (IL‐10, TGF‐β), Th1 (IFN‐γ) cytokines were observed. Eosinophilic infiltration, goblet cell hyperplasia, and subepithelial fibrosis were also alleviated by TDIT. These changes were more significant in the TDIT group than in subcutaneous AIT group. Conclusion In conclusion, HDM loaded biodegradable TDIT is a novel treatment option to treat asthma which showed more effectiveness and may have better safety profiles than conventional SCIT.

Knowledge and Awareness about Transdermal Drug Patches among Dental Students

“…About 56% of dental students were aware that controlled delivery of drugs through the skin can reduce the drug spike concentration. A transdermal patch uses a special membrane to control the release rate at which the liquid drugcontaining patch reservoir can pass through the skin and into the bloodstream [26]. Transdermal delivery not only provides controlled, constant administration of the drug, but also allows continuous input of drugs with short biological half-lives, and eliminates pulsed delivery into systemic circulation which is responsible for undesirable side effects [27].…”

Pharmacokinetic improvement provided by microneedle patch in delivering bee venom, a case study in combating scopolamine-induced neurodegeneration in mouse model

“…Applying the patches to the mice was carried out in a similar manner to prior research done by the RAPHAS company (Park et al, 2020 ). Follow this protocol the patches (15 × 8 mm) were applied to the back of mice, this is also the similar site of many other studies using mouse model to study MN drug delivery (Bhatnagar et al, 2019 ; Xu et al, 2020 ; Wang et al, 2021 ).…”

Developments in the field of allergy in 2020 through the eyes of Clinical and Experimental Allergy

“…We have finally entered the much‐anticipated era of personalized medicine for asthma, and several articles evaluated biologics and the variation in individual response to these in people with asthma 25‐27 , 28‐36 , 37 , 38 Others evaluated more traditional treatments for asthma, such as corticosteroids or mechanisms that may underlie impaired airway function in asthma 39‐59 . New interventions studied in clinical trials included air cleaners, triple inhaler therapy, an oral prostaglandin D2 antagonist 60‐62 and other more preliminary data from various interventions, from cinnamon and bacterial peptides to allergen immunotherapy 63‐67 . A single nucleotide polymorphism was identified, which appears to be associated with airway smooth muscle hypertrophy in fatal asthma 68 …”