Mostafa Amirinejad
1,2 
, Atoosa Haghighizadeh
3, Leila Etemad
3,4, Omid Rajabi
3,5* 1 Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
2 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
3 Department of Pharmaceutical Control, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
4 Pharmaceutical Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
5 Targeted Drug Delivery Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Abstract
The follicular route has been explored for both topical and systemic drug delivery but its application is challenged by different limitations such as sebum flow and size-selectivity. Vesicular carriers like liposomes, niosomes, invasomes, and transferosomes, which have shown promise in overcoming these barriers, have been explored in this review study. These vesicles improve follicular penetration of drugs, with deformable carriers performing better than conventional liposomes. Also, modifying liposomes using permeation enhancers has been introduced as another choice to enhance their follicular penetration. Vesicular systems have been primarily used to deliver drugs for treating alopecia, acne, and topical infections. They have also demonstrated potential in systemic delivery of antihypertensive drugs and insulin. Local hair massage and iontophoresis techniques further improve vesicle follicular penetration.