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Transdermal Delivery of Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease

Development, Clinical Performance and Future Prospects

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Abstract

There is increasing interest in the potential of transdermal drug delivery systems for the treatment of neurological disorders, especially in the elderly. In this population, the higher incidence of chronic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, neurological disease and chronic pain, has dramatically increased the need for long-term medications. Additionally, elderly patients often have a combination of several chronic diseases, meaning drug delivery, drug-drug interactions, absorption/blood concentrations, toxicity and compliance are of concern for patients as well as for their caregivers and physicians. Recent efforts have focused on developing pharmaceutical preparations that overcome these issues. For example, rate-controlled drug delivery systems have been under active development. Transdermal drug delivery systems have been developed to deliver phenserine, rivastigmine, nicotine and estradiol for the management of cognitive and behavioural dysfunctions in patients with Alzheimer’s disease because this form of administration has several advantages, including maintenance of sustained therapeutic plasma concentrations of drugs, easy application and reduced systemic adverse effects. Thus, transdermal drug delivery for elderly patients offers promise as the ideal therapeutic approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease.

This article reviews the technical principles underlying the development of transdermal drug delivery systems, focusing on cholinesterase inhibitors, and the prospects for future development. The clinical performance of transdermal patches, again with emphasis on cholinesterase inhibitors, is also reviewed.

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Acknowledgements

No sources of funding were used to assist in the preparation of this review. The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this review. The authors are grateful to the transdermal patch research team at Novartis for editing and reviewing the text, particularly section 4.

The authors are also grateful to Ms Cristina Chang of Novartis (Taiwan) Co. Ltd and Dr Gilbert Lefèvre for assistance in the preparation of this review.

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  1. Institute of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University, 100, Shi-Chuan 1st Rd, Kaohsiung, 807, Taiwan

    Agnes L. F. Chan, Yie W. Chien & Shun Jin Lin

  2. Department of Pharmacy, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan

    Agnes L. F. Chan

  3. InnovaTherapeutics Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Yie W. Chien

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Chan, A.L.F., Chien, Y.W. & Lin, S.J. Transdermal Delivery of Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease. Drugs Aging 25, 761–775 (2008). https://doi.org/10.2165/00002512-200825090-00003

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