Advances in dissolving microneedles-based drug delivery system for treating dermatological diseases

Different from common methods for dermatological diseases treatment, dissolving MNs (DMNs) loaded with active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) have been identified as a promising approach for the delivery of drugs and vaccines, which revolutionize drug delivery with controlled release rates at target topical lesions. Hence, drugs can be designed and delivered to meet individual needs through controlling the dose and ingredients. The objectives of this study are to collate, analyze, categorize, and summarize published articles and papers pertaining to DMNs and its applications on dermatological diseases, as well as to provide a critical insight into the direction of its future development. From the available references, DMNs should be designed with sufficient mechanical strength, needle length and dissolvability for specific disease treatment. The available machine learning applications potentially applicable to optimize DMNs design and evaluate its efficacy are presented. Essentially, DMNs provides an effective solution for skin disease treatment and customized drug release for clinical applications. Graphical abstract (Created in BioRender. Chen, G.) • Transdermal drug delivery system plays an important role in treating dermatological diseases. • Dissolving microneedles offer advantages, such as ease of administration, simple delivery principles, and low production costs. • The updated clinical trials, challenges faced, and future promises of dissolving microneedles are discussed.