A Novel Methacryloyl Chitosan Hydrogel Microneedles Patch with Sustainable Drug Release Property for Effective Treatment of Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a chronic and recurrent skin disease that often requires long‐term treatment, and topical transdermal drug delivery can reduce systemic side effects. However, it is still a challenge in efficient transdermal drug delivery for psoriasis treatment due to low penetration efficiency of most drugs and the abnormal skin conditions of psoriasis patients. Here, a safe and effective methacryloyl chitosan hydrogel microneedles (CSMA hMNs) patch is developed and served as a sustained drug release platform for the treatment of psoriasis. By systematically optimizing the CSMA preparation, CSMA hMNs with excellent morphological characteristics and strong mechanical properties (0.7 N needle−1) are prepared with a concentration of only 3% (w/v) CSMA. As a proof‐of‐concept, methotrexate (MTX) and nicotinamide (NIC) are loaded into CSMA hMNs patch, which can produce a sustained drug release of 80% within 24 h in vitro. In vivo experiments demonstrated that the CSMA hMNs patch can effectively inhibit the skin thickening and spleen enlargement of psoriatic mice and has a good biosafety profile at sufficient therapeutic doses. This study provides a new idea for the preparation of hMN systems using modified CS or other biocompatible materials and offers an effective therapeutic option for psoriasis treatment. A methacryloyl chitosan hydrogel microneedles (CSMA hMNs) patch is developed, after which methotrexate (MTX) and nicotinamide (NIC) are added as model drugs to form the MTX‐NIC hMNs patch for psoriasis treatment. The patch has good morphology and mechanical force with sustainable release properties. In vivo experiments showed that the MTX‐NIC hMNs patch significantly inhibits skin thickening and splenomegaly in psoriatic mice.