Microneedles: An advancement to transdermal drug delivery system approach

Abstract

Novel drug delivery system offers several advantages which could outweigh the benefits of other drug delivery systems. The transdermal drug delivery system being one of them offers supremacy by by-passing the first pass metabolism which eventually helps in eradication of gastrointestinal irritation. However, the major drawback of the transdermal drug delivery system is the hindrance created via the stratum corneum. This protective barrier of the skin does not allow required penetration of the drug via skin into the systemic circulation. Thus, in order to overcome this hurdle, a replacement to this type of novel drug delivery system, namely, "microneedle drug delivery system" helped to improve various pitfalls of transdermal drug delivery system, such as skin barrier function, restrictions toward using of specific drugs only, bioavailability, patient compliance, diffusion rate, and plasma concentration level. A microneedle drug delivery system, thus, is advancement to transdermal drug delivery system which includes delivery of drug via microneedle into systemic circulation, thus increasing patient compliance and avoiding problems rendered by transdermal drug delivery system.