The skin and mucous membranes represent a drug administration site widely exploited for the treatment of pathologies at a local and systemic level. If on the one hand local administration presents a significant advantage in the reduction of side effects linked to the systemic distribution of the active substance, on the other hand, the use of systems capable of promoting the systemic absorption of the drug can improve the compliance of the patient, possibly also guaranteeing a controlled release.
In this area, research is especially directed towards the design of innovative pharmaceutical systems for the delivery of antimicrobial drugs: - rapidly gelling thin films and porous matrices based on adhesive polymers and with enhancer properties such as chitosan; - polymeric and lipid nanoparticles capable of promoting penetration/permeation of the drug into the skin and mucous membranes.
The main aspects of the research are the choice of materials, the preparation of the pharmaceutical system using innovative technologies (solvent casting, freeze/spray drying, ionic gelation, thin film hydration) and the evaluation of the functional properties (water-uptake, mucoadhesion, release and penetration/permeation of the drug) in order to define the formulation and preparative parameters associated with the best therapeutic response.
