Penetration enhancer efficacy

Wiechers, J.W., and R.A. de Zeeuw. 1990. Transdermal drug delivery Efficacy and potential applications of the penetration enhancer azone. Drug Design Del 6 87. 

Although penetration enhancers promise superior therapeutic efficacy, this approach should be introduced for clinical use only after considering the balance of risks and benefits. Furthermore, information on the different mechanisms of drug penetration, ocular metabolism, side effects, and the influence of ocular diseases on the specific drug absorption-enhancement techniques is required before the use of any enhancer. 

Many drugs exhibit low skin penetration, which results in poor efficacy. As opposed to common chemical skin penetration enhancers, organic solvents, which are... 

It is of course not only the concentration of water that may be deduced by this methodology in fact, any penetrant possessing a characteristic IR signature, distinct from the SC components, can be similarly monitored. Consequently, one of the noteworthy uses of reflectance spectroscopy has been the in vivo evaluation of penetration enhancement, both in the assessment of enhancer efficacy and in the investigation of their mode of action. The basis of this research, however, lies in the extensive in vitro investigations, by IR and DSC, of penetration enhancer activity and it is therefore pertinent to first review the principal literature. 

The keratolytic effect of salicylic acid enhances penetration and efficacy of some other topical agents such as corticosteroids. ... 

In vivo studies have shown the efficacy of fatty acids as potential skin penetration enhancers. Percutaneous absorption of dihydroergotamine was enhanced (208-fold)... 

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