Title:Topical Delivery of Drugs for the Effective Treatment of Fungal Infections of Skin
Volume: 21
Issue: 20
Author(s): Nida Akhtar, Anurag Verma and Kamla Pathak
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Antifungals, delivery systems, fungal diseases, penetration, therapeutics.
Abstract: The prevalence of fungal infections of skin has increased rapidly, affecting approximately 40 million
people across the globe. A wide variety of antifungal drugs has been utilized in the effective management of numerous
dermatological infections. Topical treatment of fungal infections has proved to be quite advantageous due
to various factors like targeting the site of infection, minimizing systemic side effects, enhanced efficacy of treatment,
and improved patient compliance. In spite the fact that these agents are therapeutically active on topical application,
these have restricted drug delivery across the skin resulting in insufficient therapeutic index and may exert
local as well as systemic side effects. The accomplishment of topical drug delivery needs to pacify two anomalous
aspects, first the barrier nature of stratum corneum, and second, deposition of drug within the skin should be
ideally achieved with limited percutaneous absorption. Thus, to facilitate the delivery of antifungal drugs and improve the treatment aspects,
various novel delivery carriers have been developed. This article attempts to provide an in-depth knowledge of nanoparticulate and
vesicular carriers. This article focuses on the different aspects of fungal infections and their effective treatment with antifungal drugs. Efficacy
of various carrier systems (nanoparticulate and vesicular carriers) in delivering antifungal drugs topically has also been discussed.
Besides, compiling various research reports, this article also includes formulation considerations inclusive of regulatory aspects of excipients
used, the mechanisms of penetration, and patents reported.
