Abstract
The stratum corneum, the most superficial layer of the skin, protects the body against environmental hazards and presents a highly selective barrier for the passage of drugs and cosmetic products deeper into the skin and across the skin. Nanomaterials can effectively increase the permeation of active molecules across the stratum corneum and enable their penetration into deeper skin layers, often by interacting with the skin and creating the distinct sites with elevated local concentration, acting as reservoirs. The flux of the molecules from these reservoirs can be either limited to the underlying skin layers (for topical drug and cosmeceutical delivery) or extended across all the sublayers of the epidermis to the blood vessels of the dermis (for transdermal delivery). The type of the nanocarrier and the physicochemical nature of the active substance are among the factors that determine the final skin permeation pattern and the stability of the penetrant in the cutaneous environment. The most widely employed types of nanomaterials for dermal and transdermal applications include solid lipid nanoparticles, nanovesicular carriers, microemulsions, nanoemulsions, and polymeric nanoparticles. The recent advances in the area of nanomaterial-assisted dermal and transdermal delivery are highlighted in this review.
Highlights
The skin plays a vital role in protecting the human body, functioning both as an effective permeability barrier against the penetration of exogenous molecules, pathogens, and irritants, and as a protective multilayer shield against dehydration, temperature fluctuations, ultraviolet radiation, and other environmental hazards [1,2,3,4]
The Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) were prepared by solvent diffusion method and showed at least twice higher drug permeation and about 60% higher drug accumulation in the skin compared with the conventional gel in ex vivo hairless rat skin [55]
Reference [573] [574] [575] [576]. It is evident from this immense number of recent works that nanomaterials play the most significant role in the contemporary dermal delivery research
Summary
The skin plays a vital role in protecting the human body, functioning both as an effective permeability barrier against the penetration of exogenous molecules, pathogens, and irritants, and as a protective multilayer shield against dehydration, temperature fluctuations, ultraviolet radiation, and other environmental hazards [1,2,3,4] This barrier function is attributed primarily to the stratum corneum (SC), the outermost layer of the epidermis, constructed of a dense network of keratin in a form of flattened corneocytes surrounded by a lipid matrix, which consists of ceramides, free fatty acids, and cholesterol [5,6,7]. The applications of these nanocarriers in topical and transdermal deliveries since 2015 are highlighted in this review
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