APR March 2024 - 50

» DRUG DELIVERY
»
Other products, such as creams and oral medicines, are also used to
treat nail infections. Many different drugs can be used in any of these
products. Some drugs that may be used in antifungal creams are
Efinaconazole (Jublia®), Tavaborole (Kerydin™), and Urea (in Umecta).
Drugs that are often taken orally to treat nail infections are Terfenadine
and Itraconazole. Terfenadine works best for skin infections around
the nail but can have severe side effects, while itraconazole works best
on yeast and mold on the nail. Based on the data from the National
Institute of Health, 144 clinical trials are currently undergoing to study
nail fungal infections. Following are the percentages of clinical trials for
a few key drugs - 7.6% tavaborole, 4.9% itraconazole, 4.2% urea, and
3.5% efinaconazole. Other microbial agents used to treat nail infections
are amoxicillin, clindamycin, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim,
bacitracin, gentamycin, mupirocin, fluconazole, nystatin, ciclopirox,
amorolfine, terbinafine, griseofulvin, and polymyxin B sulfate.
Dosage Forms and Delivery
Oral drugs are a prevalent form of drug delivery for nail infections.
Specifically for fungal infections, oral treatments are used when more
than half of a nail is covered, or if more than three nails are affected. While
they can be very effective, oral therapies have numerous limitations.
These limitations include a lack of patient compliance, a high risk of
recurrence, significant adverse effects, and contraindications. Oral
treatments are often used for fungal infections in nails but these tend
to cause systemic side effects, such as liver toxicity.
Topical drug delivery, and specifically transungual drug delivery,
is another type of drug delivery that is commonly used for treating
nail
infections. One type of transungual nail
delivery form is
nanoemulsion. Nanoemulsions are droplets of liquid and surfactant
mixtures that are 10-500 nm in size. They are often distributed in
the form of a gel ( " nanoemulgel " ) and possess all of the properties
needed for antifungal therapy. These properties are stability, improved
solubilization, increased permeation effect, and targeted action. Nail
patches can also be used for treatment, and are effective due to their
non-invasive characteristics, serving as a means to eliminate adverse
effects of oral and injected therapies.9
Nail lacquers are made by suspending a drug in a solvent with
a polymer so that when added to the nail, the solvent evaporates
and leaves behind a polymer film containing the drug. This allows
the drug to be released over time, allowing for more penetration of
the nail plate and avoiding having to reapply as often.10
Methods
have also been developed through biomimicry to create artificial
lysosomes, which are bi-layered phospholipid vesicles filled with a
drug solution. This makes them good for drug delivery in hydrophilic
and hydrophobic environments and allows them to store ethanol for
non-water-soluble drugs.11
Some experimental methods are being developed to supplement
topical treatment due to the lower efficacy rate compared to the oral
routes. Iontophoresis is the process of adding a topical medication to
the nail and then applying a localized electrical current to the area
50 |
| March 2024
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
to allow the particles to pass through. Ultrasonic nail drug delivery is
similar except it uses short bursts of short-wavelength, high-intensity
sound to source particles through the nail. Nail can also be etched
either using very small scratching to the surface or chemicals such as
weak acids to remove some of the top layers of keratin and allow the
drug to travel deeper in the nail.12
In spite of advanced medicines and drug delivery systems, it takes
months to treat nail infections and more work is needed in this area.
Author Biographies
Sienna Dragone is a high school senior at the Morris County School
of Technology, in Denville, NJ, in the Academy for Biotechnology. She is
planning to pursue a career in chemical engineering.
Natalie Devine is a high school senior at the Morris County Vocational
School of Technology studying in the Academy for Biotechnology. She is
pursuing a career in biology and genetics.
References
1.
2.
Knott, L. (2019). Why do we have nails? https://patient.info/news-and-features/why-dohumans-have-nails#:~:text=It's%20
thought%20that%20 nails%20are,branches%20
in%20 search%20 of%20 fruit
Meyer, A. (2019). Curious Kids: why do we have fingernails and toenails? The Conversation.
https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-do-we-have-fingernails-and-toenails110989#:~:text=The%20short%20
answer%20 is%20 we,fingernails%20gene%20
to%20their%20kids
TeachMeAnatomy. (2021). The nail unit - plate - germinal matrix - bed - TeachMeAnatomy.
https://teachmeanatomy.info/upper-limb/misc/nail-unit/
Bhattacharjee B, Dey N, Barman D, Karmakar A, Ahmed N, Understanding the drug delivery
through nails: a comprehensive review, Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics. (2021);
11(4):116-131 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22270/jddt.v11i4.4941
Nenoff, P., Paasch, U., & Handrïck, W. (2014). Infektionen an Finger- und Zehennägeln
durch Pilze und Bakterien. Hautarzt, 65(4), 337-348. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00105013-2704-0
Nail-patella
syndrome - About the Disease - Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center.
(n.d.). https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/7160/nail-patella-syndrome
Professional, C. C. M. (2023). Nail infection (Paronychia). Cleveland Clinic. https://
my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15327-nail-infection-paronychia
Top 5 Fungus Under and Around the Nail Remedies of 2023: Which Brands Think You're
Stupid? (2023). Top Fungus Alert.
Transungual (NAil) drug delivery - Michniak Laboratory for Drug Delivery. (2023).
Shanbhag, P. P., & Jani, U. (2017). Drug delivery through nails: Present and future. Eur. J. of
Molecular and Clin. Med., 3 (5), 252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nhtm.2017.01.002
Tanrıverdi, S. T., & Özer, Ö. (2013). Novel topical formulations of Terbinafine-HCl for
treatment of onychomycosis. Eur. J. of Pharm. Sci., 48(4-5), 628-636. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.ejps.2012.12.014
12. Dr, S. N. (2013). NAIL DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.
net/publication/255758355_NAIL_DRUG_DELIVERY_SYSTEM

APR March 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of APR March 2024

Message from the Editor
Editorial Advisory Board
BIOPHARMACEUTICALS - Getting to GMP-Quality Biotherapeutics From Today’s Bench-Scale Continuous Manufacturing Systems: A Gap Analysis
MICROBIOLOGY - Critical Behavioral Attributes and the Application of COM-B Framework in Aseptic Processing
FORMULATION AND DEVELOPMENT - Use of AUC in AAV Analysis in a GMP Setting
FORMULATION AND DEVELOPMENT - Precision Medicine in Clinical Trials: A Statistical Perspective
An Interview with Dan Smithey, PhD President & CEO, Serán
FORMULATION AND DEVELOPMENT - Still Early Days for AI in Drug Discovery...Says Who?
QC Corner - Enhancing Material and Equipment Availability in Production Isolators
BIOPHARMACEUTICALS - Technologies for Aseptic Filling: The Choice is Clear
Vendor Viewpoint - Data Integrity and Rapid Micro Methods: Transforming to a Modern Microbiology Lab
MICROBIOLOGY - Bacterial Spore Formers in Disinfectant Efficacy Testing
Partner Perspective - Nanoparticle Technologies: Enablers for Ocular Drug Delivery
DRUG DELIVERY - Your Nails and You
DRUG DEVELOPMENT - Battling Exorbitance: High Costs in Sickle Cell Gene Therapies and the Imperative of Global Patient Registries for Equity
FORMULATION AND DEVELOPMENT - How Pharma Companies Are Solving Regulatory Challenges with AI-based Technology
Event Preview - CPHI North America
Event Preview - Excipient World 2024
P.I.N. Points
Advertiser's Index
APR March 2024 - CoverTip01
APR March 2024 - CoverTip02
APR March 2024 - Cover1
APR March 2024 - Cover2
APR March 2024 - 1
APR March 2024 - 2
APR March 2024 - 3
APR March 2024 - 4
APR March 2024 - 5
APR March 2024 - Message from the Editor
APR March 2024 - Editorial Advisory Board
APR March 2024 - BIOPHARMACEUTICALS - Getting to GMP-Quality Biotherapeutics From Today’s Bench-Scale Continuous Manufacturing Systems: A Gap Analysis
APR March 2024 - 9
APR March 2024 - 10
APR March 2024 - 11
APR March 2024 - 12
APR March 2024 - 13
APR March 2024 - MICROBIOLOGY - Critical Behavioral Attributes and the Application of COM-B Framework in Aseptic Processing
APR March 2024 - 15
APR March 2024 - 16
APR March 2024 - 17
APR March 2024 - 18
APR March 2024 - FORMULATION AND DEVELOPMENT - Use of AUC in AAV Analysis in a GMP Setting
APR March 2024 - 20
APR March 2024 - 21
APR March 2024 - 22
APR March 2024 - 23
APR March 2024 - FORMULATION AND DEVELOPMENT - Precision Medicine in Clinical Trials: A Statistical Perspective
APR March 2024 - 25
APR March 2024 - 26
APR March 2024 - 27
APR March 2024 - An Interview with Dan Smithey, PhD President & CEO, Serán
APR March 2024 - 29
APR March 2024 - 30
APR March 2024 - FORMULATION AND DEVELOPMENT - Still Early Days for AI in Drug Discovery...Says Who?
APR March 2024 - 32
APR March 2024 - 33
APR March 2024 - QC Corner - Enhancing Material and Equipment Availability in Production Isolators
APR March 2024 - 35
APR March 2024 - BIOPHARMACEUTICALS - Technologies for Aseptic Filling: The Choice is Clear
APR March 2024 - 37
APR March 2024 - 38
APR March 2024 - 39
APR March 2024 - Vendor Viewpoint - Data Integrity and Rapid Micro Methods: Transforming to a Modern Microbiology Lab
APR March 2024 - 41
APR March 2024 - MICROBIOLOGY - Bacterial Spore Formers in Disinfectant Efficacy Testing
APR March 2024 - 43
APR March 2024 - Partner Perspective - Nanoparticle Technologies: Enablers for Ocular Drug Delivery
APR March 2024 - 45
APR March 2024 - 46
APR March 2024 - 47
APR March 2024 - DRUG DELIVERY - Your Nails and You
APR March 2024 - 49
APR March 2024 - 50
APR March 2024 - 51
APR March 2024 - DRUG DEVELOPMENT - Battling Exorbitance: High Costs in Sickle Cell Gene Therapies and the Imperative of Global Patient Registries for Equity
APR March 2024 - 53
APR March 2024 - 54
APR March 2024 - 55
APR March 2024 - FORMULATION AND DEVELOPMENT - How Pharma Companies Are Solving Regulatory Challenges with AI-based Technology
APR March 2024 - 57
APR March 2024 - Event Preview - CPHI North America
APR March 2024 - 59
APR March 2024 - Event Preview - Excipient World 2024
APR March 2024 - 61
APR March 2024 - P.I.N. Points
APR March 2024 - 63
APR March 2024 - Advertiser's Index
APR March 2024 - Cover3
APR March 2024 - Cover4
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