Ethosomes - A noninvasive vesicular carrier for transdermal drug delivery

Abstract

The transdermal route vied with oral treatment as the most successful innovative research area in drug delivery. The use of lipid vesicles in delivery systems for skin treatment has attracted increasing attention in recent years. Vesicles allow to control the release rate of drug over an extended time, keeping the drug shielded from immune response and would be able to release just the right amount of drug and keep that concentration constant for longer periods of time. One of the major advances in vesicle research was ethosomes. Ethosomes are noninvasive delivery carriers that enable drugs to reach the deep skin layers and/or the systemic circulation. These are soft, malleable vesicles tailored for enhanced delivery of active agents. Ethosomes are soft lipid vesicles containing phospholipids, alcohol in relatively high concentration and water. The size range of ethosomes may vary from tens of nanometers to microns (μ). Hot and cold methods are used for formulation of ethosomes. Evaluation parame- ters include size, shape, drug content, zeta potential, stability studies, skin permeation studies etc. These carriers open new challenges and opportunities for the development of novel improved therapies.