Tissue Specific Topical Treatment for Peripheral Neuropathy

Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is condition in which a single nerve, nerve groups, or nerves become damaged. Neuropathic pain can be difficult to manage. Mild pain can be treated with over the counter analgesics. In cases when the pain is persistent and more severe, injections of, or topical patches containing local anesthetics, can be used. In order to provide a safe and no adverse side effect PN pain relief, the topical application and neuronally specific delivery of painkillers is an important strategy. Iontophoresis is a medication delivery method that can be used to reduce the risk of systemic side effects as opposed to oral medications by delivering a greater concentration of medication to a local area with a very low systemic dose. The result is a noninvasive drug delivery method with high patient acceptability. Nano-formulated compositions are promising means for transdermal tissue specific drug delivery, as they allow both long-term drug stability and sustained on demand release of the active drugs. Infoscitex Corporation (IST) and Northern Kentucky University (NKU) developed a concept that combines both of the above methods to result in a highly efficient, biocompatible, and topically administered and tissue specific PN treatment.