PNAS: Scientists have scrutinised how different liquids affect our nails to
find out which is best for carrying treatments - such as for fungal
infections and psoriasis - deep into the nail. They found that,
surprisingly, water was ten times faster at working its way down through
the nail surface than the other two solvents examined in the study. Researchers report that solvents diffuse
through the human nail in a size- and concentration-dependent manner. Treating
nail diseases, such as fungal infections, is difficult because the tightly
woven keratin network of the nail acts as a barrier to efficient drug delivery.