Abstract

APPLICABILITY OF NATURAL POLYMERS IN TRANSDERMAL PATCHES: OVERVIEW

Lohithasu Duppala*, Shabari Girinath K., D. Midhun Kumar, Divvela Hema Naga Durga

ABSTRACT

Natural polymers can be used as the means of achieving predetermined rates of drug delivery. Natural polymers are basically polysaccharides so they are biocompatible and without any side effects. Gums, mucilages, resins and plant extracts are widely used natural materials for conventional and novel dosage forms. Natural polymers remain attractive primarily because they are commercial, readily available, capable of multitude of chemical modifications, potentially degradable and compatible due to their origin. The applicability of polymers of transdermal drug delivery system is to control the release of the drug from the TDDS patch/device and may be used to formulate various controlled and targeted drug delivery system. Natural polymers can be widely used as the means of achieving predetermined rates of drug delivery and their physico-chemical characteristics with the ease of availability provide a platform to use it as a polymer for TDDS. A TDDS is a device/patch that is made of one or more types of polymers embedded with drug(s) to deliver the embedded drug through the skin over a controlled period of time. Controlled drug release can also be achieved by embedding the drug onto a polymeric material and then releasing the drug in a predesigned controlled manner from the polymer into the blood stream. This is achieved by the use of transdermal drug delivery system that is made of polymeric materials. The objective of controlled drug delivery is to ensure safety and efficacy of the drug as well as patient compliance. The release mechanism of the drug from these polymers is by Degradation, Diffusion and Swelling, which control the release of the drug from the device. Transdermal patches are pharmaceutical preparation of varying sizes, containing, one or more active ingredient, intended to be applied to the unbroken skin in order to deliver the active ingredient to the systemic circulation after passing through the skin barriers, and it avoid first pass effect. Through a diffusion process, the drug enters the bloodstream directly through the skin. Characterization of transdermal patch, which includes quality, size, time of onset & duration, adhesive property, thickness, weight of patch, moisture of content, uniformity & cutaneous toxicological studies.

Keywords: Natural Polymers, Transdermal drug delivery, Control release.