Introduction to Diabetic Wound Challenges
Diabetic wounds pose a significant health challenge, often leading to severe complications such as amputations. These chronic wounds are characterized by persistent inflammation and affect over 6% of the global population. In Singapore alone, approximately four lower limb amputations occur daily due to non-healing diabetic wounds. A study conducted in Singapore estimated that the healthcare cost related to amputations per patient was S$23,000 in 2017.
Breakthrough Microneedle Technologies
To address this pressing issue, researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed two innovative microneedle technologies. These technologies have demonstrated efficacy in accelerating diabetic wound healing in preclinical models by preserving the functions of growth factors and removing undesirable inflammatory compounds.
Understanding the Role of Growth Factors
Growth factors play a crucial role in wound healing by regulating key cellular functions. However, in diabetic wounds, these growth factors are rapidly degraded by enzymes known as proteases, significantly slowing down the healing process. Additionally, diabetic wounds are characterized by persistently high levels of inflammation.
Microneedles for Delivery and Extraction
The research team, led by Assistant Professor Andy Tay from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at NUS, aimed to tackle these issues using microneedles for both delivery and extraction. This minimally invasive approach allows for precise fabrication and painless administration of active compounds directly into wounds, making microneedle patches excellent materials for wound healing.
Sucralfate Microneedles: Boosting Growth Factor Production
In the first approach, the NUS research team developed sucralfate microneedles (SUC-MN) to deliver interleukin-4 (IL-4), an important immunomodulatory protein, to stimulate the production of growth factors in diabetic tissues. IL-4 helps regulate the immune response and promote tissue regeneration, while sucralfate protects growth factors from degradation. The microneedles dissolve in the wound, delivering IL-4 and sucralfate directly, minimizing systemic side effects and avoiding secondary damage to newly formed tissues. The researchers found that SUC-MN significantly accelerated wound healing, achieving results twice as fast compared to traditional treatments.
Heparin-Coated Microneedles: Reducing Inflammation
The second approach explored the novel use of microneedles to extract undesirable pro-inflammatory proteins and immune cells. The team used heparin-coated porous microneedles (HPMN) to address persistent inflammation in skin wounds. Heparin binds readily to chemokines, which are molecules that recruit pro-inflammatory immune cells called monocytes. The team demonstrated that HPMN could effectively deplete chemokines and monocytes from the wound site, leading to a 50% reduction in tissue inflammation and a 90% reduction in wound size by the 14th day of treatment.
Potential Applications and Future Developments
These initial findings highlight the potential of HPMN as a promising strategy for treating inflammatory skin disorders. The ability of HPMN to remove chemokines and inflammatory cells deep within the skin tissue offers a unique advantage over existing treatments that only target surface-level inflammation. HPMN could be further developed for personalized wound care and tailored treatment of various inflammatory skin conditions such as psoriasis.
Advancing Microneedle Technology
The development of SUC-MN and HPMN represents a significant step forward in wound healing and skin disease management. The research team plans to conduct further studies to explore the potential of this technology and bring it to market. For extractive microneedles, the team will fabricate microneedles with more controllable pore sizes using advanced technologies like 3D printing and integrate antibacterial properties, as clinical non-healing wounds often accompany infections. They are also designing flexible microneedle patches to ensure they fit well to various tissue shapes.
Conclusion
“We are excited about the potential impact of our research and look forward to advancing this technology towards clinical translation. The two approaches developed by our team would provide much-needed relief for patients with diabetic wounds, as well as many patients suffering from skin conditions like atopic dermatitis or psoriasis,” said Assistant Professor Tay.
🔗 **Fuente:** https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-sponge-microneedle-patches-diabetic-wound.html