transdermal drug delivery Flashcards
What is transdermal delivery?
delivery of drug across the stratum corneum and into the systemic circulation
What is topical drug delivery?
delivery of a drug across the stratum corneum and into the deeper skin skin layers for local action
advantages of transdermal route vs oral/IV route
- controlled release of drug into systemic circulation (dec dose frequency)
- avoidance of liver metabolism (inc bioavailability, admin of a lower dose)
- safer (no GI s/e)
- patient compliane
limitations of transdermal route vs oral/IV route
- permeability barrier (only small, lipophilic molecules can permeate through skin)
- low dose delivery (potent molecules)
- inter and intra patient variability (wide therapeutic window)
- skin irritation
3 layers of skin
epidermis
dermis
subcutaneous fat tissue
main barrier to drug transport across the skin
stratum corneum (SC)
How are drugs removed from the skin?
blood supply in dermis
- conc gradient between drug on skin surface and the dermal vasculature
- driving force for diffusion across the skin membrane
steps for drug delivery via the skin
- dissolved drug molecules diffuse along the vehicle towards the vehicle/skin interface
- partitioning of drug from vehicle into SC, diffusion through SC
- partitioning from SC into viable epidermis, diffusion through viable epidermis (aqueous)
- partition from epidermis into dermis, diffusion through dermal tissue
- partition into capillaries and removal by systemic circulation
other fates of drug delivery via skin
- '’reservoir effect’’ - drug binds to keratins in SC
- enzymatic metabolism - drug degradation or activation (pro-drug) by skin enzymes in viable epidermis
- partitioning into subcutaneous fatty layers
structure of stratum corneum
- corneocytes - differentiated keratinocytes
- intercellular lipid domain - ceramides, FAs, cholesterol
- > no phospholipids, ceramides insetad
- > ceramined only in lipids in skin, no where else in body
- > '’brick and mortar’’ structure
intercellular pathway through stratum corneum
- diffusion via the intercellular lipid domain
- main pathway for small, uncharged, lipophilic molecules
- pathlength of permentation 500 microm > thickness of SC
intracellular/transcellular pathway through stratum corneum
- sequential partition and diffusion across the corneocytes
- pathlength of permeation = thickness of SC (20 microm)
appendageal transport in stratum corneum (hair follicles, sweat/oil glands)
- significant in vivo contribution
- important for large, polar molecules and ions
What is diffusion of a drug in transdermal delivery?
spontaneous flow of molecules across an area
from a region of high concentration to a region of lower concentration, driven by a concentration gradient
slow, random movement - Brownian motion
Mr of a drug and its diffusion through SC
larger = slower diffusion through SC
smaller = higher diffusion coefficient, faster
-> low Mr drugs best for transdermal dosage forms
temperature and diffusion coefficient of drug transdermally
higher/inc T of skin = higher/inc diffusion coefficient, quicker drug release
- > can casue s/e if it exceeds MSC
eg. fentanyl patches, inc skin temp will inc diffusion of drug and can cause side effects
ideal properties of a drug for passive transdermal delivery
- therapeutic properties
2. physiochemical properties
therapeutic properties of drug for passive transdermal delivery
low daily dose (<10mg/day)
short half life (<10hrs)
non-irritating/sensitising to skin
physiochemical properties of drug for passive transdermal delivery
low Mr (<500 Da) - D (diff coeff) inversely proportional to molecular size of drug
aqueous solubility
- needs >1mg/ml to be removed by blood supply
optimal partition coefficient K
- lipid solubility to diffuse across SC
- logK o/w = 1-3
low melting point (<200 degC)
methods to increase drug diffusion via skin
- prodrug
- super-saturation
- chemical enhancers
- eutectic mixtures
- colloidal drug cerrier systems
prodrug approach
hydrophilic drugs to lipophilic prodrug
- attach lipophilic fxn group (ester group)
- prodrug has optimal K
- prodrug converted to active drug by enzymes in viable epidermis
examples of prodrug approach
topical anti-inflammatory steroids
- betamethasone 17 valerate
problem with using prodrug approach
needs extra toxicological studies - new chemical entity being made
super-saturation approach
max flux (Jmax) when Cv = Cmax
Cmax = max sol of drug vehicle = saturation conc of a drug in vehicle (dissolved drug molecules are in equilibrium with solid drug
but will create an unasable formulation, high tendency to crystlalise
-> add anti-nucleating excipients to prevent drug crystallisation