Transfersomes: A New Vesicular Carrier System in Topical Drug Delivery

Molecules greater than 500 Da normally do not cross the skin. This prevents epicutaneous delivery of the high molecular weight therapeutics as well as non-invasive transcutaneous immunisation. Extremely deformable vesicles prepared by the judicious combination of several materials provide a solution to this problem: the resulting agent carriers, transfersomes, are the only tested colloidal system that can transport even large macromolecules spontaneously through the skin in immunologically active form. Transfersomes 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. Transfersomes are made up of a phospholipids component along with a surfactant mixture. The uniqueness of this type of drug carrier system lies in the fact that it can accommodate hydrophilic, lipophilic as well as amphiphilic drugs. These drugs find place in different places in the elastic vesicle before they get delivered beneath the skin. Peripheral drug targeting, transdermal immunization can also be achieved with this type of drug delivery system. The Transfersomes are characterized for entrapment efficiency, Vesicle Diameter ,Vesicle size distribution and zeta potential, No. of vesicles per cubic mm ,Confocal scanning laser microscopy study ,Degree of deformability or permeability measurement ,Turbidity measurement Drug content : Surface charge and charge density, Penetration ability ,Occlusion effect, Physical stability, In-vitro drug release, Invitro Skin permeation Studies, etc. These carrier systems are preferred over other carrier systems, as these are biodegradable, biocompatable and nontoxic carrier with better potential for skin penetration and prolongation of drug release. 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.