Abstract

(Transferosomes : an innovative drug carriers) Deepak rai Department of pharmaceutics, B S Anangpuria institute of pharmacy, Alampur, Ballabgarh-Sohna Road Faridabad (Haryana). Adverse side effects, drug metabolism by first-pass effect in the liver, poor patient Compliance, or rejection of an invasive medication often hinders the success and efficacy of therapeutic treatment.

The major barrier in transdermal delivery of drug is the skin intrinsic barrier, the stratum corneum, the outermost envelop of the skin that offers the principal hurdle for diffusion of hydrophilic ionizable bioactives. Many techniques have tried to overcome these hurdles by designing better and

safer drug delivery strategies. One of such technique is transfersomes which is composed of phospholipid, surfactant, and water for enhanced transdermal delivery. Transfersome is an ultra deformable vesicle, elastic in nature which can squeeze itself through a pore which is many times smaller than its size owing to its elasticity. The ratio of individual surfactants and total amount of surfactants control the flexibility of the vesicle. Transfersomes possess an infrastructure consisting of hydrophobic and hydrophilic moieties together and as a result can accommodate drug molecules with wide range of solubility. They are applied in a non-occluded method to the skin and have been shown to permeate through the stratum corneum lipid lamellar regions as a result of the hydration or osmotic force in the skin. They can act as a carrier for low as well as high Molecular weight drugs e.g. analgesic, anesthetic, corticosteroids, sex hormone, anticancer, insulin, gap Junction protein, and albumin.

The transdermal route of drug delivery has gained great interest of pharmaceutical research, as it circumvents number of problems associated with oral route of drug administration. The major barrier in transdermal delivery of drug is the skin intrinsic barrier, the stratum corneum, the outermost envelop of the skin that offers the principal hurdle for diffusion of hydrophilic ionizable bioactives. Recently, various strategies have been used to augment the transdermal delivery of bioactives. Mainly, they include iontophoresis, electrophoresis, sonophoresis, chemical permeation enhancers, microneedles, and vesicular system (liposomes, niosomes, elastic liposomes such as ethosomes and transfersomes). Among these strategies transferosomes appear promising. Transport of this vesicular system through skin and epithelial hurdle depends upon the flexibility of their membrane, which can be attained using appropriate ratio of surfactant. Transfersomes have shown immense potential in drug delivery across the skin. Recent success also demonstrates the potential of transfersome in vaccine, steroid, protein, and peptide delivery across the skin. It is also used for transporting genetic material and achieving transfection. This review highlights the various aspects of the transferosomes in the effective delivery of drug/bioactives across the skin.