Abstract
Microemulsions are effective vehicles in cutaneous drug delivery due to their facile and low-cost preparation, high solubilization capacity of various drugs, increased bioavailability, and thermodynamic stability. Transparency and low viscosity of microemulsions are due to their small droplet diameter that enables high mobility in the vehicle and adhesion to the skin surface and thereby enhanced drug permeation. Compared to conventional topical formulations, it seems that microemulsions are able to mediate increased percutaneous drug delivery. The local safety of microemulsions has been evaluated in several studies in human and animal skin, and in most cases no signs of skin intolerance were observed. Systematic in vivo data of microemulsion-mediated drug delivery to the skin is rather limited, but improved drug delivery compared to conventional topical formulations has been reported in several studies.
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Pappinen, S., Urtti, A. (2016). Microemulsions. In: Dragicevic, N., Maibach, H. (eds) Percutaneous Penetration Enhancers Chemical Methods in Penetration Enhancement. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47862-2_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47862-2_16
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