VESICLES – MECHANISM OF TRANSDERMAL PERMEATION: A REVIEW

摘要

Transdermal drug delivery is an attractive alternative to conventional techniques for administration of systemic therapeutics. The major challenge in designing transdermal drug delivery systems is to overcome the natural transport barrier of the skin. One approach is the use of vesicle formulations. Liposomes were first shown to be of potential value for topical therapy by Mezei and Gulasekharam in 1980, since then investigation continued towards development of lipid vesicles as carriers for skin delivery of drugs. But still vesicles are considered as a controversial class of dermal and transdermal carriers. This review provides an overview of the effectiveness of conventional, deformable and ethosomal vesicles as drug delivery systems as well as their possible mode of action as permeation enhancers or transdermal drug carriers. Deformable liposomes and ethosomes penetrate stratum corneum, thus releasing their drugs or proteins into systemic circulation. Vesicles as carrier systems can give rise to development of novel transdermal drug delivery systems.