Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Review Article | OPEN ACCESS

Modified Transdermal Technologies: Breaking the Barriers of Drug Permeation via the Skin

Ritesh . Kumar, Anil . Philip

Department of Pharmaceutics, Rajiv Academy for Pharmacy, Mathura-286001, Uttar Pradesh, India.;

For correspondence:- Anil Philip Email: anilphilip@sancharnet.com Tel:091-0565-2425159

Published: 23 March 2007

Citation: Kumar R., Philip A.. Modified Transdermal Technologies: Breaking the Barriers of Drug Permeation via the Skin. Trop J Pharm Res 2007; 6(1):633-644 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v6i1.2

© 2007 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Transdermal drug technology specialists are continuing to search for new methods that can effectively and painlessly deliver larger molecules in therapeutic quantities to overcome the difficulties associated with the oral route, namely poor bioavailability due to hepatic metabolism (first pass) and the tendency to produce rapid blood level spikes (both high and low). Transdermal delivery can improve the therapeutic efficacy and safety of drugs by more precise (i.e., site-specific) way but spatial and temporal placement within the body is required to reduce both the size and number of doses necessary to achieve the objective of systemic medication through topical application to the intact skin surface. Modulation of formulation excipients and addition of chemical enhancers can increase drug flux but that is not sufficient to ensure delivery of pharmacologically effective concentration of drug therefore, several new active rate controlled TDDS technologies (electrically-based, structure-based, velocity-based, etc.) have been developed and commercialized for the transdermal delivery of ‘troublesome’ drugs. This review article covers most of the new active transport technologies involved in enhancing the transdermal permeation into an effective DDS. In-depth analysis, formulation approaches, applications, advantages and disadvantages of these newer technologies are discussed.

Keywords: Transdermal drug delivery, microneedles, macroflux, iontophoresis, ultrasound, powderject, skin abrasion.