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Fatty Alcohols, Fatty Acids, and Fatty Acid Esters as Penetration Enhancers

  • Chapter
Percutaneous Penetration Enhancers Chemical Methods in Penetration Enhancement

Abstract

Fatty alcohols, fatty acids (saturated and unsaturated), and fatty acid esters have been extensively utilized as skin penetration enhancers in many research studies over the past 3 decades. Some of these compounds, for example, oleic acid, stearic acid, isopropyl palmitate, ethyl oleate, have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for their use in topical and transdermal products. It is generally believed that these agents increase skin permeation by disrupting the lipid organization in skin layers, forming solvated complexes, increasing the diffusivity and partitioning of drugs in/through the skin barrier. This chapter summarizes the utility of fatty alcohols, fatty acids, and their esters as promising percutaneous penetration enhancers for topical and transdermal delivery of drugs. The role of vehicle or other ingredients from the formulation on the enhancement effects of the topical or transdermal formulation and their skin irritation potential has also been presented.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison School of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    R. Jayachandra Babu PhD & Li Chen

  2. Formulation Development, Nesher Pharmaceuticals LLC, Bridgeton, MO, USA

    Narayan Kanikkannan PhD

Authors
  1. R. Jayachandra Babu PhD
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  2. Li Chen
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  3. Narayan Kanikkannan PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Jayachandra Babu PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Manufacturing, Apoteka "Beograd", Belgrade, Serbia

    Nina Dragicevic

  2. Dermatology Clinic, University of California San Francisco Dermatology Clinic, San Francisco, USA

    Howard I. Maibach

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Babu, R.J., Chen, L., Kanikkannan, N. (2015). Fatty Alcohols, Fatty Acids, and Fatty Acid Esters as Penetration Enhancers. 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_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47039-8_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-47039-8

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