Potential of ethosomes for enhanced transdermal drug delivery in skin diseases

Abstract

Ethosomes are novel ethanolic phospholipid vesicles which are significantly used for the transdermal drug delivery. Ethanol is an efficient permeation enhancer which is used in ethosomes about 20-45%. These are non-invasive in nature and have emerged as an area of active research interest because they significantly lead to enhanced skin penetration, improvement in drug delivery, increased drug entrapment efficiency it can deliver both hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs efficiently. Increased patient compliance etc. The drug penetrates the skin surface and gets absorbed by two phases i.e., the ethanol effect and ethosomes effect. Ethosomes are predominantly being used over liposomes because of their greater penetration rate which is attributed to the high concentration of ethanol. Hence it is an active area of research. The primary aim of the review is to provide a comprehensive account on the methods of preparation, properties, characterization, advantages and applications of ethosomes in the management of several skin diseases.

Keywords

• ethanol
• ethosomes
• transdermal drug delivery system
• permeation enhancers