The pilosebaceous unit: A pivotal route for topical drug delivery

The hair follicle, hair shaft and sebaceous gland are collectively known as the pilosebaceous unit. The pilosebaceous unit is a complex, dynamic, 3-D structure, which is the site of unique biochemical, metabolical and immunol ogical events. Ongoing research has focused on the hair follicle as a poten tial route for both localized and systemic drug delivery. Targeted drug del ivery to the specific sites of hair follicle has paved ways to treat severa l dermatological abnormalities that are known to originate at the hair foll icle. In recent studies, topical liposomes have been shown to target the dr ug to the pilosebaceous unit. This review describes general aspects of pilo sebaceous unit, follicular delivery, with particular emphasis on studies wh ich have demonstrated targeted follicular delivery via liposomes. (C) 2000 Prous Science. All rights reserved.