Rheology of Drugs For Topical and Transdermal Delivery

Abstract

Skin drug delivery systems are a constant source of interest because of the benefits that they offer to overcome many drawbacks associated with other modes of drug delivery (i.e. oral, intravenous, etc.). Because of the impermeable nature of the skin, designing a suitable drug delivery vehicle that penetrates the skin barrier is challenging. Skin drug delivery can be subdivided into topical and transdermal (Fig.1). In a topical administration the drug is intended to act at skin level, this is indicated for the treatment of skin diseases. The aim of transdermal administration is getting a systemic release and in this case the skin represents a barrier not a target. The availability of drugs or other active substances through the skin depends basically on two consecutive steps: the release of these drugs or substances from vehicle or carrier and their subsequent permeation through the skin. Hence, studies on the specific properties of vehicles or carriers, such as their rheological behaviours, are of great interest in the field of pharmaceutical products. The objective of the present study is to systematically characterize a nonlinear rheological behaviour and flow properties of drugs and drug carriers into topical and transdermal administration. To this aim, one- and threedimensional rheological models are presented, which may be used to describe drug release through the skin and through the extracellular and interstitial matrix structures. Finally, the rheological measurements of some commercial creams and ointments were made.

Keywords

• drug delivery
• human skin
• drug rheology
• rheological models