Abstract

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF TRANSDERMAL PATCHES: A SHORT REVIEW

*Ramesh Kundlik Aghav, Nikhil Sopan Katore, Siddheshwar Rohidas Kudke, Ashok Baban Shimple and Rohan J. Jadhav

ABSTRACT

Since the start of life on the earth, humans have applied plenty of substances to their skin as cosmetics and therapeutic agents. However, it was the 20th century once the skin became used as route for future drug delivery. Today about two third of drugs (available in market) are taken orally, but these aren’t as effective as required. To enhance upon the features the transdermal drug delivery system was emerged. Amongst all techniques that transdermal drug delivery systems (TDDS), also referred to as “patches,” are dosage forms designed to deliver therapeutically effective quantity of drug across a patient’s Skin. It give controlled continuous delivery of drugs via the skin to the systemic circulation. Advantage of transdermal drug delivery system are limitation of hepatic first pass metabolism, improvement of therapeutic potency and maintenance of steady plasma level of the
drug. transdermal patch (Skin Patch) uses a special membrane to control the rate at which the liquid drug contained in the reservoir within the patch will pass through the skin and into the bloodstream. Drugs administered through skin patches include scopolamine (for motion sickness), nicotine (for quitting smoking), estrogen (for menopause and to stop osteoporosis after menopause), nitroglycerin (for angina), and lidocaine to relieve the pain of shingles (herpes zoster). Transdermal patches were developed in the 1970s and the first was approved by the FDA in 1979 for the treatment of motion Sickness. in 1981, patches for nitroglycerin were approved, and today there exist variety of patches for drugs such as clonidine, fentanyl, Lidocaine, nicotine, nitroglycerin, estradiol, Oxybutinin, scopolamine, and testosterone. There are combination patches for Contraception, also as hormone replacement. Depending on the drug, the patches typically last from 1 to 7 days. Some drugs should be combined with substances, such as alcohol, that increase their ability to penetrate the skin so as to be used in skin.

Keywords: Transdermal drug delivery systems (TDDS), Diffusion, Sustained drug delivery, First-generation TDS, Second-generation TDS, Polymer Matrix, Permeation enhancers, Iontophoresis, Microneedles.