Targeted drug delivery by topical application

药物被应用于皮肤治疗各种各样的条件，包括局部（如。炎症、肌肉疼痛、湿疹、牛皮癣和其他皮肤病）和全身性（例如，心绞痛、激素替代、尼古丁戒断）疗法。分子生物学技术的进步也导致了一系列基于大分子量肽和蛋白质的治疗剂的开发，如果可以确定合适的递送系统，则透皮递送提供了最具成本效益和实用的解决方案。此外，在暴露于环境职业化学品以及故意应用于皮肤的化学品（如杀虫剂、防晒霜和化妆品）后，也会发生不必要的皮肤吸收。本研究继续我们的工作，寻求确定药物的化学结构，制剂类型和溶剂之间的关系，其中它们被应用或与皮肤接触，以及它们在皮肤和底层组织的各个层中的渗透，分布和保留。对制药行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重要领域，这些领域与从优化药物输送系统和风险评估程序的准确性方面预测溶质与皮肤接触后可能的行为的能力有关。我们还将继续研究使用物理技术（如离子电渗疗法）促进药物通过皮肤转运的技术，并设计专门针对皮肤中较大毛孔（如毛囊）的制剂，以提高递送速率并增加溶质范围，特别是那些可能被视为潜在候选药物的大分子量溶质。

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.