What is it about?
Psoriasis is a long-term skin condition that causes thick, inflamed patches that are difficult to treat because medicines do not easily penetrate the skin and the affected areas lack oxygen. This work discusses a new microneedle patch that painlessly delivers treatment directly into psoriatic skin while locally producing oxygen. The patch combines tiny dissolvable needles with light-activated therapy and anti-inflammatory medication, allowing drugs to reach deeper skin layers and work more effectively. By improving oxygen levels and drug delivery at the same time, this approach overcomes key barriers that limit current psoriasis treatments.
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Why is it important?
Many existing psoriasis treatments are limited by poor skin penetration and reduced effectiveness in low-oxygen inflamed tissue. This work is important because it highlights a novel strategy that actively modifies the skin environment to improve treatment outcomes. The oxygen-boosted microneedle platform offers a safer, more targeted, and potentially more effective alternative to conventional topical or systemic therapies, with reduced side effects and improved durability of response.
Perspectives
From my perspective, this work represents an exciting step toward smarter, more responsive drug-delivery systems for skin disease. Rather than simply delivering medication, the microneedle platform actively addresses the biological conditions that limit treatment success. I believe this approach has strong potential for clinical translation and could be adapted for other inflammatory or difficult-to-treat skin disorders beyond psoriasis.
Associate Prof. Lifeng Kang
University of Sydney
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Advancing psoriasis therapy through oxygen-boosted dual-section microneedle technology, Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, January 2026, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2025.12.025.
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