Abstract

Administration of drugs through skin via transdermal route is a non-invasive approach and applicable for systemic delivery but it is not suitable for drugs having higher molecular weight. Various approaches have been used to improve the efficacy of transdermal route such as vesicular system, iontophoresis, microneedles, use of permeation enhancers, etc. Among the several approaches, vesicular delivery is gaining importance in transdermal drug delivery. Transfersomes are one of the vesicular systems and they are best suited for the transdermal delivery of higher molecular weight compounds. Due to the deformable nature of transfersomes, they penetrate into deeper layers of skin, retain their original structure after penetration and finally enter into the systemic circulation. This review focuses mainly on the applications of transfersomes in the field of drug delivery i.e. delivery of analgesics, anti-cancers, proteins and peptides, immunomodulators, steroidal hormones and herbal drugs with increased penetration through skin. In addition, this review also deals with preparation methods available for preparing transfersomes, characterization, mechanism of penetration upon topical application and its kinetic aspects.

Keywords: Deformability, permeation, phospholipids, skin, surfactants, transfersomes, vesicles.