A theoretical description of the effects of volatility and substantivity on percutaneous absorption

Effect of octanol:water partition coefficients of organophosphorus compounds on biodistribution and percutaneous toxicity

Knowledge of partition coefficient (log P) data can play a critical role in understanding the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodistributive properties of toxic organophosphorus (OP) compounds. Using a recently published gas chromatographic method, the octanol:water log P values for the compounds tabun (GA), sarin (GB), cyclosarin (GF), and O-ethyl-S-(2-diisopropylaminoethyl) methylphosphonothiolate (VX) were determined to be 0.384 +/- 0.033, 0.299 +/- 0.016, 1.038 +/- 0.055, and 0.675 +/- 0.070, respectively. Based on these data, the log P value of the fluorophosphonate fragment, common to GB, soman (GD), and GF, was determined to be -2.256 +/- 0.273. The predictive value for absorption and distribution of the determined log P values was compared to measured values. The time to onset of local fasciculations (47.3, 29.0, 8.8, 8.5, and 6.3 min, respectively) in guinea pigs exposed percutaneously to equilethal doses of GA, VX, GF, GB, or GD was used as an indicator of dermal penetration. There was a good correlation (r = 0.95) between the measured log P value and the rate of onset of local fasciculations. Assuming a direct correspondence, equilibrium tissue:blood log P may be estimated from octanol:water log P. Comparison of the estimated and directly measured tissue:blood log P revealed a correlation of 0.8 for GD in liver, muscle, and adipose tissue. Our results demonstrate the use of log P data to both predict absorption and determine the distribution of OP compounds in tissues. This facilitates further estimates of in vivo OP effects from in vitro experiments.

Absorption of materials by or through the living skin

Synopsis The skin comes into contact with a large range of materials either deliberately or inadvertently. It should be possible to predict the exact transport rates of these materials through the skin as a function of the physicochemical properties of the different compounds. With this sort of knowledge it is possible to predict the exact disposition of compounds and use this in the formulation of new products both in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic field. The information will also be useful from the standpoint of skin toxicology and environmental health. In order to be able to predict this complex process it is necessary to split the overall transport into different component parts. This article will identify these components and provide illustrations. The major areas discussed will be barrier function of the skin, the release properties of different topical formulations and how these may be monitored. Novel means of enhancing the penetration of drugs will be discussed and how some additives that are incorporated into formulations will perhaps alter the barrier function of skin. A mathematical model describing skin penetration has been developed and its use in predicting blood levels will be described. This model has been tested both in animal experiments and in limited human studies and its relevance to these situations will be highlighted. Absorption cutanée et transcutanée in vivo.

Percutaneous absorption in man: a kinetic approach

A biophysically based kinetic model of chemical absorption via human skin was developed and applied to the penetration kinetics of 12 chemicals: aspirin, benzoic acid, benzyl nicotinate, caffeine, chloramphenicol, colchicine, dinitrochlorobenzene, diethyltoluamide, malathion, methyl nicotinate, nitrobenzene, and salicylic acid. The pharmacokinetic model is linear and includes four first-order rate constants: (1) k1 describes penetrant diffusion through the stratum corneum; (2) k2 relates to further transport across the viable epidermal tissue to the cutaneous blood vessels; (3) k3 is a parameter which delays the partitioning of penetrant at the stratum corneum-viable tissue interface and, in conjunction with k2, reflects the penetrant's relative affinity for the stratum corneum over the viable tissue; and (4) k4 characterizes the elimination rate of chemical from blood to urine. Previously determined diffusion coefficients and molecular weight corrections were used to estimate k1 and k2; k4 values employed were those measured experimentally. Urinary excretion rate data following topical administration were simulated and k3 was estimated for each penetrant by optimizing the fit of the model to the data points. Ratios of k3/k2 should be related to the partition coefficients for the chemicals between stratum corneum and viable tissue and it was shown that these ratios agreed reasonably well with the corresponding octanol-water partition coefficients. This approach may have potential for predicting the general percutaneous absorption kinetics of chemicals based on recognized cutaneous biology and penetrant molecular weight and lipophilicity.