Ann Conkle
Apr 26, 2012

Breakthrough for delivering drugs via the skin

A research team at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has outlined the structure and function of the outermost layer of the skin -- the stratum corneum -- at a molecular level. This opens the way not only for delivery of drugs through the skin, but also for a deeper understanding of skin diseases. "You could say that we've solved the puzzle of the skin barrier, something that has great potential significance for dermatology," says principal investigator Lars Norlén, associate professor at Karolinska Institutet's Dermatology and Venereology Unit. This will hopefully enable the widespread administration of drugs via the skin instead of via pills or injections. When delivered through the skin drugs can be administered evenly over time and can bypass first-passage metabolism through the liver. To conduct their study, the researchers developed an entirely new experimental approach in which they rapidly froze tiny skin samples and studied them under a low-temperature electron microscope.

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