Revealing drug release and diffusion behavior in skin interstitial fluid by surface-enhanced Raman scattering microneedles.

Microneedle (MNs), as a novel dermal drug delivery formulation, have drawn a lot of attention in recent years. Drug release and diffusion behavior in dermal interstitial fluid (ISF) determines the pharmacokinetics and effectiveness of MNs, which have not been clearly elucidated until now. Herein, we develop surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based detection MNs (D-MNs) for the sensitive analysis of model drugs in ISF. The surface of the D-MNs was deposited with a high density of hotspot-rich core-satellite gold nanoparticles, which would generate a sensitive SERS signal of a model drug (3,3'-diethylthiatricarbocyanine, DTTC) released by therapeutic MNs (T-MNs). Furthermore, the D-MNs produced an internal-standard signal for drug signal calibration, increasing the accuracy of detection. Taking advantage of the D-MNs, the release and diffusion behavior of the drug from T-MNs in the ISF of living mice was systematically studied. It was found that DTTC diffused without directional preference in ISF up to a distance of 1.5 cm. The intensities at diffusion sites decreased sharply with increasing distance from the release site (less than 0.3% at 1.5 cm). These results indicated that drug concentration gradient rather than ISF fluidity was a major driving force for the diffusion. Moreover, the application of water-soluble MN polymers, hydrophilic model drugs in T-MNs, as well as a heating or cupping treatment of mouse skin, enhanced drug diffusion in ISF. This work provides a new tool for and real-time detection of molecules in ISF, which would be beneficial for the development and evaluation of MN-based therapeutic systems.