Advanced drug delivery systems for topical treatment of common skin diseases : a decade in review

Vitek, Mercedes (author), Kocbek, Petra (author), Kristl, Julijana (author), Filipović-Grčić, Jelena (author), Gašperlin, Mirjana (author), Zvonar Pobirk, Alenka (author), Gosenca Matjaž, Mirjam (author)

Common skin diseases including fungal skin infections, atopic dermatitis, acne vulgaris, and psoriasis represent a substantial health burden and remain therapeutically challenging. Creams, ointments, gels and other conventional topical formulations are constrained by drug instability, uncontrolled drug release, inadequate skin penetration, and the need for frequent application, which compromise their therapeutic effectiveness and reduce patient adherence. Advanced topical drug delivery systems have emerged as promising strategies to overcome these limitations. This paper provides a disease-driven overview of the most recent advancements in topical treatment of the selected common skin diseases over the past decade. Using a systematic approach, we highlight innovations across micro- and nanoemulsions, vesicular systems, lyotropic liquid crystals, liquid crystalline nanoparticles, lipid nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, and nanofibers, emphasising how they address critical therapeutic challenges. Each disease is examined in terms of its pathophysiology, unmet therapeutic needs, and the formulation strategies most frequently investigated for its treatment. Drug delivery platforms are organised by their prevalence in the literature, enabling cross-disease comparison and illustrating how formulation advances translate into patient benefits. Ultimately, we aim to highlight recent progress in this field and outline directions for future research, thereby supporting the development of next-generation topical therapies for common skin diseases.

• Language: English
• Keywords: topical drug delivery, skin penetration, controlled release, nanomedicine, formulation design
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.02 - Review Article
• Organization: FFA - Faculty of Pharmacy
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 20 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 703, art. 127348
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-186566
• UDC: 615.015.14:616.5
• ISSN on article: 1873-3476
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2026.127348
• COBISS.SI-ID: 289533187
• Publication date in RUL: 03.09.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: International journal of pharmaceutics
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 1873-3476
• COBISS.SI-ID: 23182341

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: lokalna uporaba zdravil, penetracija skozi kožo, nadzorovano sproščanje, nanomedicina, zasnova formulacije, dostavni sistemi, koža

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P1-0189
• Name: Farmacevtska tehnologija: od dostavnih sistemov učinkovin do terapijskih izidov zdravil pri otrocih in starostnikih