Abstract
Transdermal drug delivery systems (TDDS) show clear advantages over conventional routes of drug administration. Nonetheless, there are limitations to current TDDS which warrant further research to improve current TDD platforms. Spurred by the synthesis of novel biodegradable ionic liquids (ILs) and favorable cytotoxicity studies, ILs were shown to be a possible solution to overcome these challenges. Their favorable application in overcoming challenges ranging from synthesis, manufacture, and even therapeutic benefits were documented. In this review, said ILs are highlighted and their role in TDDS is reviewed in terms of (a) ILs as permeation enhancers (single agents or combined), (b) ILs in drug modification, and (c) ILs as active pharmaceutical ingredients. Furthermore, future combination of ILs with other chemical permeation enhancers (CPEs) is proposed and discussed.
Highlights
Ionic liquids (ILs) are a class of compounds under intensive investigation for a multitude of applications including, but not limited to, green chemistry, chemical synthesis [1], catalysis, lubricant fluids [2], plasticizers, organic solvent replacement [3], electrochemistry, and bioand nano-technologies, among many more [1,2,3,4,5,6]
The ability for room-temperature ionic liquids (ILs) (RTIL) to be modified for various purposes allows for them to be used in many settings, such as solubilizing agents with the ability to solubilize a wide variety of compounds [4], or as permeation enhancers which act on biological membranes leading to improved efficacy and clinical outcomes [9,10,11,12,13,14]
Work done by Moniruzzaman et al [15] (2010) showed that IL soluble drug acyclovir can form stable IL–oil microemulsions with dimethylimidazolium dimethylphosphate (MMIM+)(MMPO4−), allowing for an alternative solvent system to be applied when solubilizing drugs with low solubility in organic solvents
Summary
Ionic liquids (ILs) are a class of compounds under intensive investigation for a multitude of applications including, but not limited to, green chemistry, chemical synthesis [1], catalysis, lubricant fluids [2], plasticizers, organic solvent replacement [3], electrochemistry, and bioand nano-technologies, among many more [1,2,3,4,5,6]. The solvating power of ILs is remarkable, leading to their use in topical systems, and oral systems, and their applications in drug delivery formulations are limited to solubilizing agents. This review is based on mechanistic, computational, and structure–activity evidence for their use in improving permeation and strategies for synergistic combinational therapy to that end Both DESs and ILs are touted to be greener solvents than current industrial standards; they are similar in nature with the key difference that can be found in the components used. The hydrogen bonding seemingly confers many advantages similar to ILs, providing compounds that have low vapor pressure, dipolar nature, low volatility, and more [18] While they are currently being applied to transdermal delivery systems, DESs are beyond the scope of this review and are, omitted
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