Delivery systems describe the different methods for medicine or supplement introduction in the body. This is important to know because even in natural bodybuilding and even in ordinary vitamin supplementing a few of the following systems are involved. People just don’t always know what these system names mean.
Here are some of the major drug delivery systems and their names:
- oral
- sublingual
- buccal
- effervescent
- transdermal
- parenteral (injectable)
As I mentioned, many people don’t really know what is the difference between sublingual and buccal for example. That’s why I thought it would be helpful to do a newsletter on the different delivery systems.
Oral delivery system. This is the most common and well known delivery system. It’s the way we take pills, tablets, caplets, softgels, etc. through the mouth. The drug gets
into the blood steam quickly, but it has to pass through the liver first.
Sublingual and buccal delivery systems allow for the substance to be absorbed into the blood stream via the mucous membranes of the oral cavity.
Sublingual is when the substance is placed under the tongue, and buccal is when the substance is placed between the cheek and the gum.
Effervescent are those pills that are first dissolved in water. The advantages are: more of the active substance gets in the blood stream (this is very convenient for people who have problems swallowing larger pills); better bioavailability; it doesn’t upset the stomach like some other oral pills do.
Transdermal delivery system is when the drug is absorbed in the body through the layers of the skin. The main advantage of this method of delivery is the avoidance of the first-pass effect – the drug surpasses the liver. This way more of the active substance gets into the blood stream.
The most common transdermal methods are topical creams and patches. The names speak for themselves.
Parenteral delivery system refers to introducing a drug in the body via injection. This system has the same advantage as the previous one – the active substance surpasses the liver upon introducing.
There are three ways for injectible delivery: intravenous, intramuscular and subcutaneous.
Intravenous is when the drug is injected directly in the vein. The drug enters immediately in the blood stream.
Intramuscular is when the drug is injected in the muscle tissue. This is a slow-release method as the active substance enters the blood flow slowly.
Subcutaneous is when the drug is administered underneath the skin, in the layer of fat. This is the method that provides the slowest release of the active substance. The main reason is the fact that fat has far less blood vessels compared to muscle. That cause the drug to be introduced to the blood flow a lot slower.