Abstract
There is considerable interest in the skin as a site of drug application both for local and systemic effect. However, the skin, in particular the stratum corneum, poses a formidable barrier to drug penetration thereby limiting topical and transdermal bioavailability. Skin penetration enhancement techniques have been developed to improve bioavailability and increase the range of drugs for which topical and transdermal delivery is a viable option. This review describes enhancement techniques based on drug / vehicle optimisation such as drug selection, prodrugs and ion-pairs, supersaturated drug solutions, eutectic systems, complexation, liposomes, vesicles and particles. Enhancement via modification of the stratum corneum by hydration, chemical enhancers acting on the structure of the stratum corneum lipids and keratin, partitioning and solubility effects are also discussed. The mechanism of action of penetration enhancers and retarders and their potential for clinical application is described.
Keywords: transdermal delivery, skin penetration, enhancer, retarder
Current Drug Delivery
Title: Transdermal Drug Delivery: Penetration Enhancement Techniques
Volume: 2 Issue: 1
Author(s): Heather A.E. Benson
Affiliation:
Keywords: transdermal delivery, skin penetration, enhancer, retarder
Abstract: There is considerable interest in the skin as a site of drug application both for local and systemic effect. However, the skin, in particular the stratum corneum, poses a formidable barrier to drug penetration thereby limiting topical and transdermal bioavailability. Skin penetration enhancement techniques have been developed to improve bioavailability and increase the range of drugs for which topical and transdermal delivery is a viable option. This review describes enhancement techniques based on drug / vehicle optimisation such as drug selection, prodrugs and ion-pairs, supersaturated drug solutions, eutectic systems, complexation, liposomes, vesicles and particles. Enhancement via modification of the stratum corneum by hydration, chemical enhancers acting on the structure of the stratum corneum lipids and keratin, partitioning and solubility effects are also discussed. The mechanism of action of penetration enhancers and retarders and their potential for clinical application is described.
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Cite this article as:
Benson A.E. Heather, Transdermal Drug Delivery: Penetration Enhancement Techniques, Current Drug Delivery 2005; 2 (1) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1567201052772915
DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1567201052772915 |
Print ISSN 1567-2018 |
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher |
Online ISSN 1875-5704 |
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