Targeted drug delivery by topical application

药物被应用于皮肤，用于治疗各种疾病，包括局部(例如，炎症、肌肉疼痛、湿疹、牛皮癣和其他皮肤病)和全身性(如。心绞痛、激素替代、尼古丁戒断)治疗。分子生物学技术的进步也导致了一系列大分子多肽和蛋白质类治疗剂的发展，如果能找到合适的给药系统，经皮给药是最具成本效益和实用的解决方案。此外，暴露在环境职业化学品以及故意应用于皮肤上的杀虫剂、防晒霜和化妆品后，也会发生有害的皮肤吸收。这项研究继续我们的工作，试图确定制剂的化学结构、应用或接触皮肤的制剂和溶剂的类型与它们在皮肤和底层组织中的渗透、分布和滞留之间的关系。对制药业和风险评估监管机构都具有重要意义的是，我们的工作将进一步发展到与从优化药物输送系统和风险评估程序的准确性两个方面预测溶质与皮肤接触后的可能行为的能力相关的重要领域。我们还将继续研究促进药物通过皮肤转运的技术，使用物理技术，如离子导入和专门针对皮肤上更大的毛孔(如毛囊)的配方设计，以此作为提高释放率和扩大溶质范围的一种手段，特别是那些可能被视为潜在候选药物的溶质。

Drugs are applied to the skin for the treatment of a wide range of conditions, including both local (eg. inflammation, muscle pain, eczema, psoriasis and other dermatological conditions) and systemic (eg. angina, hormone replacement, nicotine withdrawal) therapies. Advances in molecular biology technology has also led to the development of a range of large molecular weight peptide and protein based therapeutic agents for which transdermal delivery offers the most cost-effective and practical solution if appropriate delivery systems can be identified. In addition, unwanted skin absorption also occurs following exposure to environmental occupational chemicals, and those applied deliberately to the skin such as insecticides, sunscreens and cosmetics. This study continues our work in seeking to define the relationship between the chemical structure of agents, the types of formulations and solvents in which they are applied or come into contact with the skin and their penetration, distribution and retention in the various layers of the skin and underlying tissues. Of great significance to both the pharmaceutical industry and risk assessment regulatory bodies will be the further development of our work into important areas relating to the ability to predict the likely behaviour of a solute following contact with the skin from the aspect of both optimising drug delivery systems and the accuracy of risk assessment procedures. We will also be continuing our work examining techniques to facilitate drug transport through the skin using physical techniques such as iontophoresis and the design of formulations to specifically target larger pores in the skin such as hair follicles as a means of improving delivery rates and increasing the range of solutes, particularly those of large molecular weight, likely to be considered as potential drug candidates.