TRANSDERMAL PATCHES: A SYNERGISTIC APPROACH OF DRUG DELIVERY FOR NSAIDs

Transdermal drug delivery system has been accepted as potential noninvasive route of drug administration, with advantages of prolonged therapeutic effect, reduced side effects, improved bioavailability, better patient compliance and easy termination of drug therapy. Non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) represents the most commonly used medications for the treatment of pain and inflammation, but numerous welldescribed side effects can limit their use. Therefore transdermal delivery of NSAIDs has advantages of avoiding hepatic first pass effect, gastric irritation and delivering the drug for extended period of time at a sustained level. The present article gives the brief view on the work been done on various NSAIDs by formulated and delivered as transdermal patches to decrease the side effects associated with the oral delivery. The various NSAIDs included in this article include Ketoprofen, Ibuprofen, Naproxen, Fluribrofen, Diclofenac, Aceclofenac, Ketorolac, Indomethacin, Meloxicam, Nimesulide, Celecoxib, Etoricoxib. INTRODUCTION: The skin has attracted much attention as an alternative route for administering systemically active drugs. The potential advantages associated with transdermal drug delivery are well documented . Transdermal therapeutic systems are defined as self contained, discrete dosage forms which, when applied to the intact skin, deliver the drug(s), through the skin, at controlled rate to the systemic circulation. Thus, it is anticipated that transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) can be designed to maintain suitable plasma drug levels for therapeutic efficacy by using skin as the port of entry of drugs . Non-Steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the most commonly used class of medications for the treatment of pain and inflammation and represents one of the most common classes of medication used world-wide, with an estimated usage of >30 million per day . NSAIDs are structurally diverse group of compounds known to prevent formation of prostanoids (prostaglandins and thromboxanes) from arachidonic acid through the inhibition of the enzyme cyclo-oxygenase (COX). COX has two isoenzymes: COX1 is found ubiquitously in the most tissues and produces prostaglandins and thromboxane, while COX2 is located in certain tissues (brain, blood vessels and so on) and its expression increases during inflammation or fever .