Abstract

RECENT ADVANCES AND TECHNOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF ETHOSOMES: A LACONIC REVIEW

Samridhi Bugwan, Pravin Kumar*, Mahendra Singh Ashawat, Vinay Pandit

ABSTRACT

Over the years transdermal drug delivery has gained a lot concern due its advantages over oral route. To achieve the permeation through the skin, one simple and convenient approach that has been widely recognized is encapsulation of the drug in ethanol based liposomes i.e ethosomes. Ethosomes are the ethanolic phospholipid vesicles which are used mainly for transdermal delivery of drugs. Ethosomes have higher penetration rate through the skin as compared to liposomes. The increased permeation of ethosomes is probably due to its ethanolic content. Ethosomes provides a number of important benefits such as improved drug delivery, efficacy, patient compliance and comfort. This review focuses on the various aspects of ethosomes viz. skin permeation mechanism, preparation, advantages, characterization, composition, applications, marketed products based on ethosomes as delivery vesicle and recent patents on ethosomes.

Keywords: Ethosomes, Transdermal, Topical, Skin, Phosphatidylcholine.