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Abstract

Hyaluronic acid, a high-molecular-weight biopolymer, is of special interest as carrier material in drug delivery due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, special viscoelastic properties, as well as its ability to create a dense network in which drugs might be incorporated. Hyaluronic acid has a broad applicability in various conditions such as in cosmetic products in terms of anti-wrinkle treatment and skin hydration, local drug delivery, intra-articular injection into arthritic joints and visco-supplementation in ophthalmology.

This chapter focuses on the use of hyaluronic acid-based formulations in cosmetics as well as for intra-/transdermal delivery of drugs. We elucidate the role of hyaluronic acid/fragments as a skin penetration enhancer and tried to highlight the properties of hyaluronic acid which make them unique in the field of drug delivery.

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Correspondence to Sarah Hedtrich .

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Hedtrich, S., Frieß, W. (2015). Hyaluronic Acid for Percutaneous Drug Delivery. In: Dragicevic, N., Maibach, H. (eds) Percutaneous Penetration Enhancers Chemical Methods in Penetration Enhancement. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47039-8_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47039-8_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-47038-1

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