OBJECTIVE: This review systematically summarizes the mechanisms and applications of friction as both endogenous and exogenous stimuli in drug delivery systems. SIGNIFICANCE: Intelligent drug delivery system can respond to endogenous or exogenous stimuli to achieve accurate drug delivery, so it has become a hot spot in pharmaceutical research. Therefore, friction, as a novel physical stimulus, offers unique potential to overcome physiological barriers and improve targeted therapy, providing new strategies for drug delivery system design. METHOD: This paper systematically reviews the two forms of stimulation of friction in drug delivery and its mechanism. In terms of endogenous effects, the focus was on exploring the regulatory effects of physiological friction such as biological friction shear, cellular micro friction, eyelid corneal friction, and joint friction on drug delivery, revealing how frictional stimulation triggers drug release or enhances targeting through mechanical signals. In terms of exogenous effects, the promoting mechanism of mechanical friction on transdermal drug delivery systems and the intracellular drug delivery technology driven by frictional nanogenerators were analyzed. RESULTS: This review outlines friction-triggered drug release mechanisms and their therapeutic potential, highlighting superior spatiotemporal precision for dynamic tissues over traditional systems, yet notes key translational challenges including parameter standardization and drug-device integration. CONCLUSION: Friction, as a unique endogenous/exogenous stimulus, enables highly precise drug delivery. Advancing clinical translation requires establishing biotribological quantitative models, developing responsive biomimetic materials, and promoting integrated "drug‑device" development through multidisciplinary collaboration.
Lv et al. (Mon,) studied this question.