Transfollicular Drug Delivery: Current Perspectives

The document from April 2016 reviews transfollicular drug delivery, emphasizing its potential for targeting the pilosebaceous unit and enhancing treatment efficacy for diseases of follicular origin. It acknowledges that hair follicles provide a significant surface area for drug absorption and that sebaceous glands may facilitate a lipoidal pathway for drug permeation. The review also discusses the hair growth cycle, the impact of androgenetic alopecia on hair loss, and the role of the endocrine system in hair growth. It outlines the ideal drug characteristics for follicular penetration and explores various strategies to improve delivery, including the use of nanoparticles and lipid nanoparticles. The document concludes that while transfollicular drug delivery shows promise, further research is needed to optimize this method for therapeutic applications, particularly systemic drug delivery, and to understand the role of sebum-drug interactions. No specific number of people in a study was mentioned, as this is a review of the topic rather than a report on a specific study.