In this work, Xing and co-workers developed a new penetration enhancer based on hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin-grafted polyethyleneimine (HP-β-CD–PEI). Its penetration mechanism relied on a change of the secondary structure of keratin in the stratum corneum to enhance the transcutaneous permeation of drugs. By using a series of in vitro and in vivo methods, this cationic polymer demonstrated great biocompatibility and could be valuable for topical delivery as a penetration enhancer to improve the penetration of hydrophilic drugs.
In vitro and in vivo application of hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin-grafted polyethyleneimine used as a transdermal penetration enhancer by Ke Wang, Yan Yan, Guilan Zhao, Wei Xu, Kai Dong, Cuiyu You, Lu Zhang and Jianfeng Xing, Polym. Chem. 2014, 5, 4658-4669.
Julien Nicolas is a web-writer and advisory board member for Polymer Chemistry. He currently works at Univ. Paris-Sud (FR) as a CNRS researcher.
