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Published on: March 18, 2016
Painless skin electroporation as a novel way for insulin delivery
Tak-Wah Wong1, Tai-Yu Chen, Chien-Chun Huang
1Department of Dermatology, Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Medical College and Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan. Dr.kentwwong@gmail.com
Background:
Rigorous research efforts have been undertaken worldwide to develop a needle-free insulin delivery for many decades with limited success. This translational study aims to deliver insulin through skin with painless electroporation.
Methods:
A recently designed microelectrode array was used to deliver insulin in mice with diabetes under electroporation conditions that are painless and harmless on human skin.
Results:
Under such condition, a therapeutic amount of insulin was delivered successfully through mouse skin. Electroporation alone increased insulin transport around 100-fold compared with passive diffusion. Increased skin temperature to 40°C for 20 min augmented insulin transport to 237-fold more than the control value. Repeated electroporation showed no harm on human skin.
Conclusion:
The results indicate the potential of painless delivery of insulin through human skin in future clinical practice.
