Abstract
Vaginal drug administration can improve prophylaxis and treatment of many conditions affecting the female reproductive tract, which includes fungal and bacterial infections, sexually transmitted diseases and cancer also. This is the best route for the administration of proteins, peptides, and also other therapeutic drugs like macro-molecules. For the administration of drugs like contraceptives, steroids, metronidazole, anti-retroviral, vaginal drug delivery is the most preferable route. However, achieving sufficient drug concentration in the vagina can be challenging because of its low permeability. The benefits of the vaginal drug delivery system are it increases the bioavailability, least systemic side effects; easiness of use and self-medication is possible. However vaginal drug delivery system is considered as a less effective route because of the unfortunate absorption of drugs across the vaginal epithelium. The traditional commercial preparations, such as creams, foams, gels, irrigations and tablets, are known to reside in the vaginal cavity for a relatively short period of time owing to the self-cleaning action of the vaginal tract and often require multiple daily doses to ensure the desired therapeutic effect. With the rapidly developing field of nanotechnology, the use of specifically designed carrier systems such as Nanoparticle-based drug delivery has been proven an excellent choice for vaginal application to overcome the challenges associated with the low permeability.
Highlights
Introduction to vaginal drug delivery Vaginal drug delivery is a novel drug delivery which acts as a local as well as systemic action based on the disease condition and drug characteristics it can be used for long-term treatment with possibility of low side effects
Vaginal route of drug absorption Drugs can be administered into the vagina by two ways, namely
solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) are more stable formulations than liposomes and they produce prolonged drug release with no sterilization problems, but some SLNs are prone to gelation after certain period of storage time this is avoided by changing the lipid composition and the use of stabilizing surfactant [37]
Summary
Introduction to vaginal drug delivery Vaginal drug delivery is a novel drug delivery which acts as a local as well as systemic action based on the disease condition and drug characteristics it can be used for long-term treatment with possibility of low side effects. These systems are traditionally used to deliver contraceptives and drugs to treat vaginal infection. This route is very effective for treating local fungal infections This route of drug administration is useful for vaginal immunization. Symptoms of vaginal infection o Itching and irritation in the vagina and vulva. Vaginal route of drug absorption Drugs can be administered into the vagina by two ways, namely
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