Ethosome-Based Herbal Formulations for Acne Management: A Comprehensive Review

  • Unique Paper ID: 188065
  • PageNo: 894-903
  • Abstract:
  • Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that affects millions of individuals globally, particularly adolescents and young adults. It occurs due to the interplay of various factors such as excessive sebum production, follicular blockage, bacterial colonization, and inflammation. Conventional treatments including antibiotics, retinoids, and benzoyl peroxide have shown clinical efficacy, but their prolonged use often results in side effects like skin irritation, dryness, erythema, and microbial resistance. These drawbacks have encouraged researchers to explore safer and more effective alternatives, such as herbal medicines. Herbal drugs derived from natural plants possess multiple therapeutic properties including antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities, making them promising agents in acne management. However, their poor solubility, low skin permeability, and instability under physiological conditions limit their topical efficacy. To overcome these limitations, advanced nanocarrier systems like ethosomes have emerged as a promising delivery platform. Ethosomes are soft, flexible vesicular carriers composed mainly of phospholipids, ethanol, and water. The unique high ethanol content enhances membrane fluidity, allowing deeper penetration of herbal actives into skin layers. Numerous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of ethosomal formulations in improving the dermal delivery of herbal bioactives such as curcumin, neem extract, and tea tree oil. This review focuses on the significance of herbal drugs for acne management, highlights the development and advantages of ethosomal drug delivery systems, discusses recent studies on herbal ethosomal formulations, and outlines future prospects for developing effective, safe, andnatural anti-acne therapeutics.

Copyright & License

Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

BibTeX

@article{188065,
        author = {Kapil Sambhaji Muneshwar and Darshan Shantaram Gangurde and Mujahid Shawkat Maniyar and Rahul Madhukar Jadhav and Ms. P. N Gadkari},
        title = {Ethosome-Based Herbal Formulations for Acne Management: A Comprehensive Review},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2025},
        volume = {12},
        number = {7},
        pages = {894-903},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=188065},
        abstract = {Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that affects millions of individuals globally, particularly adolescents and young adults. It occurs due to the interplay of various factors such as excessive sebum production, follicular blockage, bacterial colonization, and inflammation. Conventional treatments including antibiotics, retinoids, and benzoyl peroxide have shown clinical efficacy, but their prolonged use often results in side effects like skin irritation, dryness, erythema, and microbial resistance. These drawbacks have encouraged researchers to explore safer and more effective alternatives, such as herbal medicines.
Herbal drugs derived from natural plants possess multiple therapeutic properties including antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities, making them promising agents in acne management. However, their poor solubility, low skin permeability, and instability under physiological conditions limit their topical efficacy. To overcome these limitations, advanced nanocarrier systems like ethosomes have emerged as a promising delivery platform.
Ethosomes are soft, flexible vesicular carriers composed mainly of phospholipids, ethanol, and water. The unique high ethanol content enhances membrane fluidity, allowing deeper penetration of herbal actives into skin layers. Numerous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of ethosomal formulations in improving the dermal delivery of herbal bioactives such as curcumin, neem extract, and tea tree oil.
This review focuses on the significance of herbal drugs for acne management, highlights the development and advantages of ethosomal drug delivery systems, discusses recent studies on herbal ethosomal formulations, and outlines future prospects for developing effective, safe, andnatural anti-acne therapeutics.},
        keywords = {Acne vulgaris; Ethosomes; Herbal drugs; Nanocarrier; Phytoconstituents; Topical delivery; Skin permeability.},
        month = {December},
        }

Cite This Article

Muneshwar, K. S., & Gangurde, D. S., & Maniyar, M. S., & Jadhav, R. M., & Gadkari, M. P. N. (2025). Ethosome-Based Herbal Formulations for Acne Management: A Comprehensive Review. International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology (IJIRT), 12(7), 894–903.

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