Nanostructured lipid carriers of lutein-based dissolving microneedle patch: A promising approach for the management of rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder caused by immune system dysregulation. Although conventional pharmacological therapies can alleviate disease symptoms, their effectiveness is often limited by poor target specificity and undesirable systemic side effects. Transdermal drug delivery systems offer a potential strategy to overcome these limitations by enabling localized and controlled drug administration. In this study, a lutein-loaded nanostructure lipid carrier (NLC) microneedle was developed for targeted delivery to inflamed arthritic joints. Lutein, a natural carotenoid, downregulates immunological inflammatory signals, thereby reducing arthritic conditions. The NLC was fabricated, optimized, and characterized before its incorporation into dissolving microneedle patches. The fabricated patches were evaluated for needle strength, moisture content, fluorescence microscopy, morphological analysis, in vitro release, ex vivo permeation, and an in vivo antiarthritic study on Wistar rats. Rats with arthritis showed greater suppression of joint swelling with NLC-loaded microneedles than other groups, indicating a promising approach for arthritis.