Current profile controlled transdermal delivery of pramipexole from an iontophoretic patch system in vitro and in vivo

Recent advances in cutaneous drug delivery by iontophoresis

INTRODUCTION

Iontophoresis has been extensively studied for topical and transdermal drug delivery to stimulate the absorption of molecules that would hardly pass through the outermost layer of the skin passively. Recent research has focused on its combination with nanoparticle-based systems or microneedles to expand its therapeutic applications.

AREAS COVERED

This review explores the fundamental principles of iontophoresis, focusing on key factors influencing its drug transport mechanisms, and provides a discussion of the field's current state. A comprehensive analysis of articles published or available online in 2024 was conducted, categorizing studies by their application areas, drug delivery systems, iontophoretic conditions, and experimental limitations.

EXPERT OPINION

The findings reveal a recent focus on wound healing and skin repair, and advancements in treating inflammation, pain, and skin cancer. Market translation requires standardized experimental protocols, particularly for iontophoretic parameters and preclinical models, along with the development of cost-effective commercial devices. Additionally, while advancements in cutaneous drug delivery have increasingly benefited from machine learning approaches, their application to iontophoresis remains underexplored. With the growing interest in associating iontophoresis with the Internet of Things, such an integration, if combined with AI tools, could offer promising opportunities for personalized, real-time treatments in modern dermatology, and therapeutic systems.

Effect of iontophoresis on dacarbazine cutaneous delivery for melanoma topical treatment

Dacarbazine (DTIC) is the drug of choice for melanoma treatment, but its systemic administration is related to several adverse effects. Here, DTIC topical delivery stimulated by iontophoresis is proposed to overcome such drawbacks. Hence, this work analyzed the impact of anodal iontophoresis on DTIC cutaneous delivery to provide an innovative topical alternative for melanoma treatment. The electrical stability of the drug was evaluated prior to the iontophoretic experiments, which demonstrated the need to add an antioxidant to the drug formulation. DTIC cutaneous permeation was evaluated in vitro for 6 h using three current densities (0.10, 0.25, and 0.50 mA/cm2). In addition, the effect of DTIC against skin cancer cells (MeWo and WM164) was investigated for 72 h of exposure to the drug. Iontophoresis stimulated skin drug permeation compared to the passive control. However, the antioxidant presence reduced DTIC permeation under the lower currents of 0.10 and 0.25 mA/cm2, which was compensated by increasing the current density to 0.50 mA/cm2. At 0.50 mA/cm2, iontophoresis enhanced topical cutaneous drug permeation 7-fold (p < 0.05) compared to the passive control. DTIC showed a concentration-dependent antiproliferative effect on melanoma cell lines. Thus, iontophoresis intensifies DTIC skin penetration in concentrations that can reduce cell viability and induce cell death. In conclusion, DTIC cutaneous delivery mediated by iontophoresis is a promising approach for treating melanomas and other skin tumors.

Iontophoresis-coupled rapidly dissolving polymeric microneedle patch of naloxone for its enhanced transdermal delivery

The transdermal delivery of naloxone for opioid overdose emergency purposes is a challenge due to its poor rate of diffusion through the layers of skin. This results in delayed delivery of an insufficient amount of the drug within minimal time as is desired to save lives. The ability of dissolving polymeric microneedles to shorten the lag time significantly has been explored and shown to have prospects in terms of the transdermal delivery of naloxone. This is an option that offers critical advantages to the ongoing opioid crisis, including ease of distribution and easy administration, with little to no need for intervention by clinicians. Nonetheless, this approach by itself needs augmentation to meet pharmacokinetic delivery attributes desired for a viable clinical alternative to existing market dosage forms. In this study, we report the success of an optimized iontophoresis-coupled naloxone loaded dissolving microneedle patch which had facilitated a 12- fold increase in average cumulative permeation and a 6-fold increase in drug flux over a conventional dissolving microneedle patch within 60 min of application (p < 0.05). This translates to a 30 % decrease in dose requirement in a mechanistically predicted microneedle patch established to be able to achieve the desired early plasma concentration time profile needed in an opioid overdose emergency. Applying a predictive mathematical model, we describe an iontophoresis-coupled microneedle patch design capable of meeting the desired pharmacokinetic profile for a viable naloxone delivery form through skin.

Recent Progress in Implantable Drug Delivery Systems

In recent years, tremendous effort is devoted to developing platforms, such as implantable drug delivery systems (IDDSs), with temporally and spatially controlled drug release capabilities and improved adherence. IDDSs have multiple advantages: i) the timing and location of drug delivery can be controlled by patients using specific stimuli (light, sound, electricity, magnetism, etc.). Some intelligent "closed-loop" IDDS can even realize self-management without human participation. ii) IDDSs enable continuous and stable delivery of drugs over a long period (months to years) and iii) to administer drugs directly to the lesion, thereby helping reduce dosage and side effects. iv) IDDSs enable personalized drug delivery according to patient needs. The high demand for such systems has prompted scientists to make efforts to develop intelligent IDDS. In this review, several common stimulus-responsive mechanisms including endogenous (e.g., pH, reactive oxygen species, proteins, etc.) and exogenous stimuli (e.g., light, sound, electricity, magnetism, etc.), are given in detail. Besides, several types of IDDS reported in recent years are reviewed, including various stimulus-responsive systems based on the above mechanisms, radio frequency-controlled IDDS, "closed-loop" IDDS, self-powered IDDS, etc. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of various IDDS, bottleneck problems, and possible solutions are analyzed to provide directions for subsequent research.

Iontophoresis for the cutaneous delivery of nanoentraped drugs

INTRODUCTION

The skin is an attractive route for drug delivery. However, the stratum corneum is a critical limiting barrier for drug permeation. Nanoentrapment is a way to enhance cutaneous drug delivery, by diverse mechanisms, with a notable trend of nanoparticles accumulating into the hair follicles when topically applied. Iontophoresis is yet another way of increasing drug transport by applying a mild electrical field that preferentially passes through the hair follicles, for being the pathway of lower resistance. So, iontophoresis application to nanocarriers could further increase actives accumulation into the hair follicles, impacting cutaneous drug delivery.

AREAS COVERED

In this review, the authors aimed to discuss the main factors impacting iontophoretic skin transport when combining nanocarriers with iontophoresis. We further provide an overview of the conditions in which this combination has been studied, the characteristics of nanosystems employed, and hypothesize why the association has succeeded or failed to enhance drug permeation.

EXPERT OPINION

Nanocarriers and iontophoresis association can be promising to enhance cutaneous drug delivery. For better results, the electroosmotic contribution to the iontophoretic transport, mainly of negatively charged nanocarriers, charge density, formulation pH, and skin models should be considered. Moreover, the transfollicular pathway should be considered, especially when designing the nanocarriers.

Iontophoresis application for drug delivery in high resistivity membranes: nails and teeth

Iontophoresis has been vastly explored to improve drug permeation, mainly for transdermal delivery. Despite the skin's electrical resistance and barrier properties, it has a relatively high aqueous content and is permeable to many drugs. In contrast, nails and teeth are accessible structures for target drug delivery but possess low water content compared to the skin and impose significant barriers to drug permeation. Common diseases of these sites, such as nail onychomycosis and endodontic microbial infections that reach inaccessible regions for mechanical removal, often depend on time-consuming and ineffective treatments relying on drug's passive permeation. Iontophoresis application in nail and teeth structures may be a safe and effective way to improve drug transport across the nail and drug distribution through dental structures, making treatments more effective and comfortable for patients. Here, we provide an overview of iontophoresis applications in these "hard tissues," considering specificities such as their high electrical resistivity. Iontophoresis presents a promising option to enhance drug permeation through the nail and dental tissues, and further developments in these areas could lead to widespread clinical use.

Overcoming skin barriers through advanced transdermal drug delivery approaches

Upon exhaustive research, the transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) has appeared as a potential, well-accepted, and popular approach to a novel drug delivery system. Ease of administration, easy handling, minimum systemic exposure, least discomfort, broad flexibility and tunability, controlled release, prolonged therapeutic effect, and many more perks make it a promising approach for effective drug delivery. Although, the primary challenge associated is poor skin permeability. Skin is an intact barrier that serves as a primary defense mechanism to preclude any foreign particle's entry into the body. Owing to the unique anatomical framework, i.e., compact packing of stratum corneum with tight junction and fast anti-inflammatory responses, etc., emerged as a critical physiological barrier for TDDS. Fusion with other novel approaches like nanocarriers, specially designed transdermal delivery devices, permeation enhancers, etc., can overcome the limitations. Utilizing such strategies, some of the products are under clinical trials, and many are under investigation. This review explores all dimensions that overcome poor permeability and allows the drug to attain maximum potential. The article initially compiles fundamental features, components, and design of TDDS, followed by critical aspects and various methods, including in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo methods of assessing skin permeability. The work primarily aimed to highlight the recent advancement in novel strategies for effective transdermal drug delivery utilizing active methods like iontophoresis, electroporation, sonophoresis, microneedle, needleless jet injection, etc., and passive methods such as the use of liposomes, SLN, NLC, micro/nanoemulsions, dendrimers, transferosomes, and many more nanocarriers. In all, this compilation will provide a recent insight on the novel updates along with basic concepts, the current status of clinical development, and challenges for the clinical translation of TDDS.