Traditional Chinese medicine ingredients integrated microneedles: A promising strategy for transdermal treatment

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has abundant medicinal resources and distinctive pharmacological properties. So, TCM presents considerable promise in clinical treatments. However, challenges such as poor bioavailability hinder broader clinical adoption of TCM. Microneedles (MNs), an innovative and minimally invasive transdermal platform, have emerged to enhance the therapeutic performance of TCM. The integration of MNs with TCM (TCM-MNs) overcomes key limitations of conventional administration routes to reach more targeted and efficient delivery. The structural and compositional diversity of TCM ingredients necessitates diverse TCM-MNs designs, especially "unification of medicines and excipients". Moreover, TCM-MNs can achieve synergistic benefits when combined with modality-specific interventions, like acupuncture. This review outlines advantages and types of TCM-MNs, according to the special structure and function of TCM components. Current applications of TCM-MNs in different diseases are also discussed. The review offers a promising foundation for the advancement and clinical translation of TCM-MNs in transdermal therapy.