AN INCLUSIVE REVIEW ON NOVEL DRUG DELIVERY STRATEGIES FOR AN EFFECTUAL DELIVERY OF BIO-ACTIVE DRUG MOLECULES IN THE TREATMENT OF ACNE

Abstract

Acne vulgaris (acne) is chronic inflammatory human cutaneous disease, characterized by areas of skin with seborrhoea, comedones, papules, nodules, pimples and possibly scarring with lesions occurring on face, neck and back. This affects the pilosebaceous unit. Propionibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus epidermidis are common pus-forming microbes responsible for the development of various forms of acne vulgaris. Common therapies that are used for the treatment of acne include topical, systemic, hormonal, herbal and combination therapy. This multifactorial disease mostly occurs in adolescents; however, it can also affect neonates, prepubescent, children and adults. Near about 80-85% people throughout the world suffer from acne at some point in their life span. The majority of the acne sufferers exhibit mild to moderate acne initially, which progresses to the severe form in certain cases. Topical therapy is employed as first-line treatment in mild acne, whereas for moderate and severe acne, systemic therapy is required in addition to topical therapy. Currently, several topical agents are available that affect at least one of the main pathogenetic factors responsible for the development of acne. Although topical therapy has an important position in acne treatment, side effects associated with various topical antiacne agents and the undesirable physicochemical characteristics of certain important agents like tretinoin and benzoyl peroxide affect their utility and patient compliance. Novel drug delivery systems or nanotechnological approaches such as particulate (solid lipid nanoparticles and microspheres), vesicular (liposomes and niosomes), colloidal drug delivery systems (micro-emulsion and nano-emulsion) and miscellaneous systems (aerosol foams and micro-sponges) have been used to reduce the side effect of drugs commonly used in the topical treatment of acne. Topical treatment of acne with active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) makes direct contact with the target site before entering the systemic circulation which reduces the systemic side effect of the parenteral or oral administration of drug and designing of a novel, low-dose and effective treatment systems to control acne disease. The current review emphasizes the potential of various novel drug delivery strategies in optimizing and enhancing the topical delivery of antiacne agents. However, very few nanocarrier based formulations are available in the market for topical use and much progress is required in this field to improve anti-acne therapy.