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Review
. 2014 Jan;3(1):42-9.
doi: 10.7774/cevr.2014.3.1.42. Epub 2013 Dec 18.

Microneedle patches for vaccine delivery

Hyemee Suh  1 , Juhyung Shin  1 , Yeu-Chun Kim  1
Affiliations
Review

Microneedle patches for vaccine delivery

Hyemee Suh et al. Clin Exp Vaccine Res. 2014 Jan.

Abstract

In today's medical industry, the range of vaccines that exist for administration in humans represents an eclectic variety of forms and immunologic mechanisms. Namely, these are the live attenuated viruses, inactivated viruses, subunit proteins, and virus-like particles for treating virus-caused diseases, as well as the bacterial-based polysaccharide, protein, and conjugated vaccines. Currently, a new approach to vaccination is being investigated with the concept of DNA vaccines. As an alternative delivery route to enhance the vaccination efficacy, microneedles have been devised to target the rich network of immunologic antigen-presenting cells in the dermis and epidermis layers under the skin. Numerous studies have outlined the parameters of microneedle delivery of a wide range of vaccines, revealing comparable or higher immunogenicity to conventional intramuscular routes, overall level of stability, and dose-sparing advantages. Furthermore, recent mechanism studies have begun to successfully elucidate the biological mechanisms behind microneedle vaccination. This paper describes the current status of microneedle vaccine research.

Keywords: Bacterial vaccines; DNA vaccines; Microneedles; Transdermal delivery; Virus vaccines.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Comparison between conventional intramuscular injection by hypodermic needle and microneedles.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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