Onychomycosis is fungal infection of toe nails or fingernails caused by a fungal microbe that invades the nail bed. It is the most common disease of the nails and constitutes about a half of all nail abnormalities and may affect toenails or fingernails, but toenail infections are particularly common. It occurs in about 10 percent of the adult population. The most common symptoms of fungal nail infection are thickening and discoloration of the nail. Treatment of onychomycosis is challenging

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... se the infection is embedded in the nail making it difficult for the drug to diffuse to the site of infection. Onychomycosis is an opportunistic infection in people with compromised immune function and in those with diabetes, psoriasis, HIV/AIDS etc. Onychomycosis affects patients' physical and psychological health and has a negative impact on overall quality of life. Oral administration of antifungal agents has been the mainstay in treatment of onychomycosis such as griseofulvin, terbinafine and itraconazole, but has limitations of systemic adverse events and drug interactions, whereas several drugs have been approved for topical administration but their efficacy is limited by the low permeability of the nail plate. This study evaluated the preformulation transungual permeability of econazole nitrate and formulation development of a transungual topical patch utilizing penetration enhancers in combination with econazole nitrate to optimize the delivery and penetration through the nail. The objectives of this project were to: 1) determine the critical factors for the in vitro transungual delivery of econazole nitrate, 2) design and develop a transungual formulation containing econazole nitrate and selection of the penetration enhancers, and 3) characterize the physical characteristics and functional properties of a novel transungual formulation. There were ten penetration enhancers being screened in this project according to the enhancement for saturation solubility, in vitro nail penetration and in vitro skin permeation an [...]