Design, Develop, and Optimization of Polymer-Based Biodegradable Microneedles Patch of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) in Transdermal Therapy

Background Cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12) is a water soluble vitamin having high solubility and low permeability due to its molecular weight. To improve this permeability the Microneedles (MNs) patch technique were used for topical application in this study. Method This was accomplished using mold casting technique in which different formulations were prepared from M1 to M20. The different combinations of polymers (HPMC K4M, PVP K30,PG 4000) were taken along with drug and methanol (5ml), mixed using magnetic stirrer at 750 rpm for 10 min and poured into the microneedles molds. All filled molds were put into the water bath sonicator at 37.5 ^o C for 5 min ,then the molds were air dried at room temperature and optimized batch was undergone for their characterization using different characteristics like; drug content, in- vitro drug release, folding durability, moisture content, moisture uptake, Infrared spectroscopy(FTIR) and solubility studies. Result The result of infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) studies showed that there are no interaction in between the drug and polymers (HPMC K4M, PVP K30 and PG 4000).Among all the prepared formulations the optimized formulation was M18. Experimental work also shown that it’s drug content was 95.2% which was greater then the other formulated batches. The In-vitro drug release study indicated that drug release percentage of the batch M18 was 96.4% which was maximum in particular time interval form the microneedles patch as compared to the others formulations. Also the folding durability of the M18 was > 200 which shows the great flexibility in the MNs patch and increase the durability of the patch.The % moisture content and % moisture uptake of such patch was 3.42% and 7.4% respectively. Conclusion Based on the different findings it can be concluded that for improving the topical permeability of drugs the microneedle patch technology can be used in the future for cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12) like drug though transdermal route as this technique may increase the permeability of the drug.