Topical Antiacne Drugs Delivery Systems

Acne vulgaris (commonly called acne) is the most prevalent skin complication of different causes with a higher prevalence in adolescents. Topical administration is used as first-choice therapy in mild acne, whereas for moderate and severe acne, systemic administration is required in addition to topical therapy. Mechanisms by which treatments act are: normalizing shedding into the pore to prevent obstruction, destruction of P.acnes, suppression of inflammation, and hormonal management.

This review focuses on the novel drug delivery systems displaying a strong ground for topical treatment of acne in order to enhance the therapeutic performance of the topical antiacne agents with improved patience compliance and a concomitant reduction in the side effects.

This literature review was obtained from electronic search on Pubmed, Google Scholars, Researchgate, Scimago, CABI, DOAJ, CiteFactor, GLOBAL HEALTH, Universal Impact Factor, Hinari among many others and also search was conducted on individual journals and manuals.

Amongst various novel drug delivery systems, vesicular carriers like liposomes and niosomes, micro sponges, microemulsions, solid lipid nanoparticles, hydrogels, emulsifier-free formulations, fullerenes and aerosol foams have been reported as novel topical administration of antiacne drugs. Liposomes have been extensively explored and their ability to optimize and improve topical therapy has been proved by several clinical trials. Microemulsions, microsponges, solid lipid nanoparticles and hydrogels also exhibit a tremendous potential for commercialization.