Pretreatment with Microneedle Array to Improve the Nail Permeability

The objective was to investigate the feasibility of pretreatment with solid microneedles as an approach to improve the nail permeability to drugs. In vitro permeation studies were performed across the human nail plates which were pretreated with solid titanium microneedles (0.5 mm). Human nail plates without pretreatment were used as a control. Sodium fluorescein was used as a model dye. Microscopic studies were performed to visualize the distribution of sodium fluorescein in the nail plate. The amount of sodium fluorescein permeated in the receiver compartment after 7 days of studies was found to be ~123 fold more compared to control. The amount of sodium fluorescein retained in active and peripheral diffusion areas of nail plate was found to be ~4 fold and ~3 fold more relative to control. Overall, pre-treatment of the nail plate with metal microneedles is appeared to be feasible approach to deliver a significant amount of drugs into and across the nail plate.