title: Transungual drug delivery: current status.
abstract: Topical therapy is highly desirable in treating nail disorders due to its localized effects, which results in minimal adverse systemic events and possibly improved adherence. However, the effectiveness of topical therapies is limited by minimal drug permeability through the nail plate. Current research on nail permeation that focuses on altering the nail plate barrier by means of chemical treatments, penetration enhancers as well as physical and mechanical methods is reviewed. A new method of nail sampling is examined. Finally limitations of current ungual drug permeability studies are briefly discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0989, USA. relkeeb@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Rania
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Elkeeb
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: AliKhan
authors.forename: Laila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Elkeeb
authors.forename: Xiaoying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hui
authors.forename: Howard I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Maibach
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D009260:Nail Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009262:Nails / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents