Journal
JOURNAL OF CONTROLLED RELEASE
Volume 103, Issue 2, Pages 301-313Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2004.11.034
Keywords
vagina; drug delivery; contraception; vaginal enzymes; bioadhesion; peptides and proteins
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Exhaustive efforts have been made toward the administration of drugs, via alternative routes, that are poorly absorbed after the oral administration. The vagina as a route of drug delivery has been known since ancient times. In recent years, the vaginal route has been rediscovered as a potential route for systemic delivery of peptides and other therapeutically important macromolecules. However, successful delivery of drugs through the vagina remains a challenge, primarily due to the poor absorption across the vaginal epithelium. The rate and extent of drug absorption after intravaginal administration may vary depending on formulation factors, vaginal physiology, age of the patient and menstrual cycle. Suppositories, creams, gels, tablets and vaginal rings are commonly used vaginal drug delivery systems. The purpose of this communication is to provide the reader with a summary of advances made in the field of vaginal drug delivery. This report, therefore, summarizes various vaginal drug delivery systems with an introduction to vaginal physiology and factors affecting drug absorption from the vaginal route. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available