Advancements in Skin-Mediated Drug Delivery: Mechanisms, Techniques, and Applications

Abstract

Skin-mediated drug delivery methods currently are receiving significant attention as a promising approach for the enhanced delivery of drugs through the skin. Skin-mediated drug delivery offers the potential to overcome the limitations of traditional drug delivery methods, including oral administration and intravenous injection. The challenges associated with drug permeation through layers of skin, which act as a major barrier, are explored, and strategies to overcome these limitations are discussed in detail. This review categorizes skin-mediated drug delivery methods based on the means of increasing drug permeation, and it provides a comprehensive overview of the mechanisms and techniques associated with these methods. In addition, recent advancements in the application of skin-mediated drug delivery are presented. The review also outlines the limitations of ongoing research and suggests future perspectives of studies regarding the skin-mediated delivery of drugs. A comprehensive review of the underlying mechanisms and techniques of chemically-enhanced, physically-enhanced, and stimuli-enhanced skin-mediated drug delivery methods are presented along with the structures of skin and delivery routes of drugs through the skin layers. Various applications of each methods are discussed in this review with prospects on future directions of skin-mediated drug delivery.image