Pharmacy Education, March 2004 Vol. 4 (1), pp.

49–50

Book Reviews

Transdermal and Topical Drug Delivery. From Theory to

In recent years, interest in the skin as a portal of with patches, have been included to illustrate the
entry for drugs has risen dramatically and the field clinical principles and their implications in trans-
has become very “topical” as evidenced by the dermal drug delivery.
increasing number of research publications, topical To help new (and other) researchers, there is a
products on the market for systemic drug delivery glossary of terms commonly used in topical and
and debates such as the one entitled “The Inhaler transdermal drug delivery at the end of the book, as
versus The Patch” at the last annual meeting of the well as a terminology section in Chapter 2 designed
Controlled Release Society in Glasgow. Research into to alleviate confusion in the literature where certain
enhancing transdermal drug delivery using various terms, such as permeation and penetration, are often
physical, chemical and formulation strategies and on used interchangeably. Particularly helpful is the
transcutaneous vaccination related to the develop- chapter on experimental design, where the author
ment of non-invasive immunisation is on the rise. discusses the benefits and limitations of in vitro and
To the many new researchers in the field of topical in vivo studies, animal and artificial membranes used
and transdermal delivery of drugs and vaccines, the in in vitro studies, preparation of skin membranes,
book provides a concise, informative and entertain- selection of diffusion cells, dose, vehicle and receptor
ing introduction to the discipline. media, integrity checks and expression of results,
The book is clearly written and the large body of among others. This chapter is especially important to
knowledge on drug delivery into and through the the field, given the very large variation in experiment
skin has been grouped logically, in seven chapters. methodologies used by different researchers.
The author starts with the basics about the structure In the preface of the book, the author, Professor
and function of the skin, goes on to discuss aspects of Adrian C Williams, hopes that the book provides an
the drug permeation process through the skin introductory text to new researchers to the field,
including drug properties and the mathematics of formulators and clinical practitioners. This, I believe,
drug flux, chemical enhancers and retarders of drug it will do. Other unintended (or forgotten?)
permeation, physical techniques and formulation beneficiaries of the book include pharmacy (and
vehicles currently under investigation to increase other) lecturers for whom this small volume
drug permeation, formulations and patches applied provides a wealth of information in one place
onto the skin and finally concludes with some which can help lecturers contextualise and integrate
clinical principles of drug delivery into and through the knowledge to enhance teaching and learning.
the skin. In the last chapter, issues such as The book certainly landed on my desk in time for this
formulation quantities, type of formulation, dilution semester!
of preparation, occlusion versus non-occlusion,
formulation equivalence, etc. are addressed. SUDAX MURDAN
Four case studies, on permethrin treatment of The School of Pharmacy,
scabies, PUVA therapy, salicylic acid and errors University of London

ISSN 1560-2214 print/ISSN 1477-2701 online q 2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd
DOI: 10.1080/15602210410001682551
50 BOOK REVIEWS

Chronotherapeutics
Peter Redfern (Ed.), ISBN 0 85369 488 5, 426 pp, 2003, Price £75.00,
Pharmaceutical Press, London

Chronotherapeutics by Peter Redfern (Ed.) is an the course of the day and how intrinsic and
excellent and informative text on this fascinating, exogenous factors are involved in regulation of
yet much overlooked, subject. circadian rhythms. Clearly, a better understanding of
Certain consequences of disruption to the factors that influence drug levels and activity could
biological clock, such as jet lag and, possibly, result in improvements in the safety profiles and
seasonal affective disorder, are phenomena that are therapeutic efficacies of many of our currently
frequently discussed in the popular press and that available drugs. This book discusses the potential
the public, as well as health care professionals, will optimisation of dosing regimes to take into account
be familiar with. Indeed, anyone who has taken a chronobiology and, also, the design of novel
long haul flight, or burned the midnight oil on one sustained release dosage forms that result in release
occasion too many, will certainly have experienced of drug at times likely to result in the greatest benefit.
the effects that this can have on our every day Whereas the above factors are of clear pertinence
functioning, such as sleep, wakefulness and to all areas of drug treatment, subsequent, individual
appetite. However, the far reaching implications chapters in the book are dedicated to specific
of circadian rhythms, not only in normal physiology therapeutic areas. These chapters provide compre-
but also in the treatment of a range of diseases, hensive discussion of the importance of chronobiol-
may come as a surprise to many. ogy in fields such as the treatment of asthma,
Oral dosing of drugs, at different times of the day, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases, as well
results in marked differences in pharmacokinetic as more specialised areas, such as cancer chemother-
parameters which cannot be explained simply by apy and pain management. The final chapters are
factors such as whether or not the subject is fed or concerned with circadian rhythm disorders, the
fasted at the time of dosing. The book describes in effects of ageing and the potential pharmacological
detail how rates of drug absorption, distribution, modulation of circadian rhythms.
metabolism and excretion are affected by circadian This book, in a single volume, manages to cover a
rhythms and gives a table citing the results of wide range of topics in considerable detail, whilst
published studies of the pharmacokinetics of some remaining are accessible to the general reader. I am
50 commonly prescribed drugs and how these vary certain that Chronotherapeutics will be a valuable
over the course of the day, in healthy individuals, as resource to scientists and practitioners alike.
well as in those being treated for specific conditions.
These important differences are presented in the REBECCA LEVER
context of physiological variations in enzyme Lecturer in Pharmacology,
systems, ion channel activity, receptor expression, The School of Pharmacy,
hormone levels and mediator production over University of London