ABSTRACT
Currently, most nail diseases are treated by oral or topical administration of therapeutic agents. Following oral administration, the actives are absorbed into the systemic circulation, and a fraction of them are found to be distributed to the nail apparatus. However, oral administration of drugs has been associated with a number of adverse effects and drug interactions. It is also observed that the treatment durations have been long, and the recurrence rate of the disease has been high with oral therapy. In this context, topical therapy is preferred as it is known to minimize most of the adverse effects associated with oral administration. However, topical therapy has been partly successful owing to poor penetration of the drug to the nail bed and nail matrix. Therefore, in most cases, topical administration has mostly been recommended as adjunct treatment to the oral therapy.
