Magnesium metal–organic framework microneedles loaded with curcumin for accelerating oral ulcer healing

Abstract

Abstract Oral ulcers are a common oral mucosal disease that seriously affect the quality of life. Traditional drug treatments have shown unsatisfactory efficacy and potential adverse reactions. In this study, curcumin-loaded multifunctional magnesium metal–organic framework-embedded hyaluronic acid-soluble microneedles patches were developed to optimize treatment strategies for oral ulcers. This microneedles patch achieves efficient release of curcumin and Mg2+ in the ulcer through precisely targeted delivery and controllable release mechanism, significantly regulates inflammation, promotes cell migration and angiogenesis, and accelerates the ulcer healing process. At the same time, the synergistic effect of curcumin and gallic acid effectively alleviated oxidative stress, while the backplate ε-poly-l-lysine and needle tip Mg2+ jointly constructed an antibacterial barrier to effectively inhibit pathogens. Verification using an oral ulcer rat model showed that the microneedles patch exhibited excellent therapeutic effects. This not only opens up a new avenue for clinical oral treatment but also marks a breakthrough in nanobiomaterials science and drug delivery technology and heralds a broad prospect in the field of oral ulcer treatment in the future. Graphical Abstract

Keywords

• Oral ulcer
• Microneedles
• Curcumin
• Metal-organic framework
• ε-Poly-l-lysine