Transdermal Drug Delivery : A Challenge

The book contains details of study carried out to evaluate the effect of various penentration enhancers (PE) on the transdermal permeation of dexamethasone. In vitro studies were performed in order to determine the optimum solvent system for the drug. The concentration of gelling agent HPMC was optimized. Further formulations were prepared and optimized for the concentration of PE to achieve maximum permeation of drug. In vitro skin permeation studies were performed using selected formulation for 24 hours, which revealed that formulation containing 5% w/w eucalyptus oil and camphor oil showed cumulative drug permeation in the desired range. Based on the observation it can be concluded that volatile oils containing terpenes are better studied over alcohols and fatty acids for increasing the permeation of dexamethasone. The formulation containing terpenes could be useful in the development of transdermal drug delivery system of dexamethasone