Drug Absorption Enhancement: Concepts, Possibilities, Limitations and Trends

Many new drugs, especially peptides and proteins, have been produced by biotechnology and are available in amounts to apply them in humans. However, most of these drugs are large, hydrophilic, and/or charged and can therefore hardly pass biological membranes. This will hinder in particular the chronic and therapeutic applicability of these drugs considerably since then only invasive routes can be used for their administration. In this book the authors focus on the state-of-the-art with respect to the basic concepts underlying and needed to study drug absorption enhancement. A major part of the book comprises the possibilities provided so far by the various routes of administration, to enhance drug absorption and the techniques and approaches to achieve this. In an additional section the growing appreciation for the safety aspects, in addition to the efficacy of drug absorption enhancement, are treated. This might limit drug absorption enhancement but at the same time rationalizes it and indicates its application window. Finally some examples of leading trends in drug absorption enhancement research are given.