Abstract
Most widely used approach to enhance drug permeation across skin is the use of chemical penetration enhancers that reversibly and transiently compromise skin barrier function. Ideally, penetration enhancers or any pharmaceutical excipients are expected to be pharmacologically inert and devoid of any clinical and/or histopathological side effects. Despite their wide spread use in topical preparations and high interest in transdermal research and generally regarded as safe (GRAS) status, most penetration enhancers are associated with high incidence of dose-dependent side effects ranging from local irritation to systemic reactions upon acute or chronic use. This chapter attempts to summarize and describe the reported toxicological aspects of some of the commonly used skin penetration enhancer classes such as terpenes, fatty acids, fatty alcohols, alcohols, glycols, laurocapram (AzoneĀ®), sulfoxides, pyrrolidones, and surfactants.
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Narishetty, S.T., Garcia-Tapia, D., Bonnema, K.J. (2015). Toxicological Aspects of Chemical Penetration Enhancers. In: Dragicevic, N., Maibach, H. (eds) Percutaneous Penetration Enhancers Chemical Methods in Penetration Enhancement. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47039-8_25
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47039-8_25
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