Mesoporous silica particles for dermal drug delivery: A review

Mesoporous silica particles (MSP) have been reported to be applicable in diverse situations pertaining to the delivery of several drug molecules. MSP have established themselves in treating diseases with oral, dermal and parenteral modes of administration. Recently, dermal delivery using MSP have gained a considerable amount of interest owing to the increase in drug stability, permeation and ease of functionalization. MSP, in general, have a very high capability of delivering actives ranging from small molecules like drugs and amino acids to larger peptides, vaccines and antibodies. The applicability of MSP in achieving desired cosmetic and health-related outcomes depends on the careful tuning of their pore size, surface area, shape and overall physicochemical properties. This review provides comprehensive details of the recent developments in the fabrication of MSP, their characteristic features and, applications in dermal drug delivery. Studies on establishing the safety profile of MSP have also been summarized in the review.