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Updated: Sep 25, 2025
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Models and Methods to Evaluate Transport of Drug Delivery Systems Across Cellular Barriers
Published on: October 17, 2013
46.6K
Advances and future perspectives in epithelial drug delivery
Yousuf Mohammed1, Amy Holmes2, Philip Chi Lip Kwok3
1Therapeutics Research Group, The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews
|April 28, 2022
Summary
Epithelial surfaces protect the body, with varying permeability influencing drug delivery. Advanced delivery systems now accommodate larger biologics for local and systemic treatments.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology and Drug Delivery
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Epithelial surfaces act as crucial barriers against foreign materials like xenobiotics and microbiota.
- Epithelial permeability varies significantly based on exposure, ranking from intestinal to skin.
- Each epithelium possesses unique morphology, biochemistry, and immunology tailored to its function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the characteristics of various epithelial barriers.
- To explore the evolution of drug delivery systems for epithelial sites.
- To highlight advancements in delivering biologics via epithelial routes.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of epithelial permeability and function.
- Review of drug delivery system development for epithelial applications.
- Examination of enhancement technologies for drug transport across epithelia.
Main Results:
- Established a permeability ranking for different body epithelia.
- Detailed the functional diversity of epithelial tissues.
- Documented the evolution of drug delivery systems for peptides, proteins, and antibodies.
- Identified various physical, chemical, and energy-based enhancement technologies.
Conclusions:
- Epithelial barriers exhibit diverse properties influencing their suitability for drug delivery.
- Drug delivery systems have advanced to enable the transport of large molecules across epithelia.
- Regulatory approaches like quality-by-design and market growth of generics drive innovation in epithelial drug delivery.
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