New Techniques for the Evaluation of Penetration Enhancers / 中国药学杂志

Penetration enhancers (PEs) are commonly used for improving bioavailability of transdermal drug delivery formulations. In the present paper, the new techniques to investigate the penetration enhancement ability, penetration enhancement mechanism and skin safety of PEs were intensively reviewed. The trends of PE research include high throughput evaluation of penetration enhancement ability, micro-molecular research of penetration enhancement mechanism and quantitative characterization of skin safety. Emergence of new techniques provides technical support which is faster, more comprehensive and reliable for the selection and research of penetration enhancers in future.