Ionic liquids in dermatological drug delivery: advances, mechanisms, and therapeutic potential

Current pharmaceutical and biological techniques have been greatly enhanced by the use of ionic liquids (ILs) in healthcare. ILs may be precisely tailored at the molecular level due to their exceptional structural tunability, which makes it possible to build task-specific solutions for a variety of medical difficulties. This adaptability has resulted in advances in targeted administration, drug solubilisation, and the removal of physiological barriers that have historically restricted the effectiveness of treatments. The effective treatment of dermatological conditions is still constrained by the stratum corneum's potent barrier function and the physicochemical constraints of active pharmaceutical ingredients. By combining knowledge from dermatopathology, pharmaceutical formulation, and materials science, this review offers a thorough examination of ILs in the context of cutaneous drug administration. When compared to traditional methods, IL-based systems exhibit superior results in permeability, efficacy, and biocompatibility, demonstrating their therapeutic potential in complex skin disorders like psoriasis, acne vulgaris, fungal infections, and skin cancer. It has been demonstrated that ILs improve transdermal transport by lipid disorganization and tight junction modulation, facilitate drug solubilisation, and make it possible to deliver macromolecules and nucleic acids. Translational barriers still exist despite their potential, such as insufficient toxicological profiling, unclear regulations, and difficulties with clinical scalability. New approaches to getting past these obstacles are provided by the development of pH-responsive systems, and bioinspired ILs. When taken as a whole, ILs constitute a new class of intelligent solvents and delivery systems that have the potential to revolutionise topical and transdermal treatments in the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries.