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Fig 1. Skin Cross Section
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Transdermal Delivery Technology
Transdermal Drug Delivery is defined as movement of substances (e.g. drugs) across stratum
corneum (outer layer of skin) into systemic circulation (blood). In other words, it delivers
active ingredients through the skin and directly to the desired area to achieve a better result.
Advantages of Transdermal Delivery
Transdermal offers a number of advantages over the oral delivery:
- Reduce drug breakdown by by-passing the
digestive system. Therefore, it requires much lower dosage compared to
oral route.
- Minimize side effects. For example,
transdermal estradiol patch doesn't cause liver damage compared to oral
estradio pills.
How It Works
With the skin regarded as the impeccable external protective barrier of our body, many are
sceptical of the true efficacy of transdermal delivery, especially for a hydrophilic
nutrient. There are two schools of thought. One uses synthetic liposomes to encapsulate
the nutrient and penetrate the skin – which is essentially a lipid bilayer. Another relies
on natural oils to carry the nutrient and penetrate the skin to enter the blood stream.
Fig 2. Propriety MediLynk Transdermal Lipovesicular
Technology
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Lynk Biotechnologies believes that with the right formulation of natural oils, an effective transdermal delivery
of health supplements is possible. To test this hypothesis, a cream formulation comprising:
water, glucosamine sulphate (10% w/w), a mixture of natural oils and palmitol was prepared and
assayed for bioequivalence in mice.
The results in the lab showed that glucosamine orally fed to the mice at 0.4g/kg body weight
gave a plasma level of glucosamine that was hardly detectable even at 6 h post feed. In
contrast, topical application of the same dose resulted in an initial surge of glucosamine
in the blood within the first 30 min post application. Thereafter, it subsided to a level of
approximately 160 µg/ml and sustained at this concentration for beyond 6 h post feed.
Therefore, we conclude that topical application of glucosamine formulated using natural oils
results in transdermal delivery of the nutrient through the mouse skin.
Fig 3. Superior of MediLynk transdermal delivery of
glucosamine compared
to oral route in mice
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Below also shows the transdermal delivery in human trial at
Singapore Changi General Hospital
Fig 4. Proven transdermal delivery as demonstrated
in human trial at
Singapore Changi General Hospital
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