Glucose responsive microneedle patch using a reversible and an irreversible crosslinking agents

Diabetes mellitus is a prevalent metabolic disorder characterized by elevated blood glucose levels due to insufficient insulin production. Glucose-responsive hydrogels incorporating boric acid (BA) have shown promise for smart insulin delivery through reversible glucose binding. In this study, we de...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mitra Teymoori, Ali Poorkhalil, Hasan Farrokhzad, Hadi Tabesh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-09-01
Series:Results in Engineering
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025022066
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Summary:Diabetes mellitus is a prevalent metabolic disorder characterized by elevated blood glucose levels due to insufficient insulin production. Glucose-responsive hydrogels incorporating boric acid (BA) have shown promise for smart insulin delivery through reversible glucose binding. In this study, we developed a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based hydrogel crosslinked with 5 % w/v BA, stabilized with citric acid (CA), and enhanced with chitosan (CS) to improve glucose sensitivity at physiological pH. The optimized hydrogel demonstrated a glucose responsiveness increase from 176.56 % (without CS) to 226.11 % with 10 % w/v CS. This hydrogel was fabricated into a microneedle patch (MNP) for non-invasive insulin delivery. Under hyperglycemic conditions (400 mg/dL glucose), the MNP system achieved a 2.75-fold increase in insulin release compared to glucose-free conditions. Ex vivo insertion tests confirmed effective skin penetration with an average depth of 465 ± 25 µm. These findings highlight the potential of this dual-crosslinked, chitosan-enhanced MNP for smart, glucose-regulated, and patient-friendly insulin delivery in diabetes management.
ISSN:2590-1230