Drug-loaded balloon with built-in NIR controlled tip-separable microneedles for long-effective arteriosclerosis treatment

Li Huang; Huaqiang Fang; Teng Zhang; Binbin Hu; Shichen Liu; Fanzhen Lv; Zhaoxia Zeng; Huijie Liu; Weimin Zhou; Xiaolei Wang

doi:10.1016/j.bioactmat.2022.11.015

Drug-loaded balloon with built-in NIR controlled tip-separable microneedles for long-effective arteriosclerosis treatment

Bioact Mater. 2022 Dec 6:23:526-538. doi: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2022.11.015. eCollection 2023 May.

Authors

Li Huang^{1

2}, Huaqiang Fang¹, Teng Zhang¹, Binbin Hu², Shichen Liu¹, Fanzhen Lv¹, Zhaoxia Zeng³, Huijie Liu², Weimin Zhou¹, Xiaolei Wang^{2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Vascular Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330006, PR China.
² The National Engineering Research Center for Bioengineering Drugs and the Technologies, Institute of Translational Medicine, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330088, PR China.
³ Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330006, PR China.
⁴ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330088, PR China.

Abstract

Drug-eluting balloon (DEB) angioplasty has emerged as an effective treatment for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. However, distal embolism and late lumen restenosis could be caused by drug loss during DEB handling and rapid drug metabolization. Here, a drug-loaded balloon equipped with tip-separable microneedles on the balloon surface (MNDLB) was developed. Inbuilt near-infrared (NIR) ring laser inside the catheter inner shaft was introduced to activate the biodegradable microneedle tips for the first time. The drug-loaded tips thus could be embedded in the vasculature and then released antiproliferative drug - paclitaxel slowly via polymer degradation for more than half a year. A significant increase in drug delivery efficiency and superior therapeutic effectiveness compared with the standard DEB were demonstrated using an atherosclerosis rabbit model.

Keywords: Atherosclerosis; Drug delivery; Drug-eluting balloon; Microneedles; Photothermal responsive.