Use of electroporation to accelerate the skin permeability enhancing action of oleic acid

Effect of electroporation on the electroosmosis across hairless mouse skin in vitro

The effect of electroporation on the iontophoresis-produced electroosmosis across the skin was evaluated by measuring the permeability of hairless mouse skin, to mannitol, a non-electrolyte, in vitro. Immediately after electroporation by squared pulses (10 times/s) at 100, 150 or 200 V for 1 ms, anodal iontophoretic permeations were determined at 0.4 mA/cm2 for 4 h. The observed iontophoretic permeability of mannitol was higher with electroporation pretreatment than without pretreatment. The enhanced flux of mannitol induced by electroporation, however, was due to increased passive diffusion. The contribution of convective or osmotic flow caused by anodal iontophoresis on skin permeation of mannitol was decreased by the pretreatment. In addition, osmotic flow was decreased with an increase in the applied voltage for electroporation. In contrast, mannitol flux during cathodal iontophoresis at 0.4 mA/cm2 after 150 or 200 V electroporation was higher than without electroporation as well as anodal iontophoresis, but cathodal iontophoretic flux after electroporation was lower than without iontophoresis. The neutral high-molecular compound dextran rhodamine B was also used as a second model. Anodal iontophoresis alone did not increase skin permeability of the compound. However, electroporation pretreatment before anodal iontophoresis enhanced the skin permeation of dextran rhodamine B, which was due to increased osmotic flow induced by this combination. These results suggest that electroporation decreases the electroosmosis produced by iontophoresis, and that electroporation increases skin permeability to neutral low and high model compounds (mannitol and dextran rhodamine B) probably due to an enlarged permeation pathway. Thus, electroporation affects osmotic flow from the anode to cathode during iontophoresis. Therefore, one has to pay attention to the change in electroosmosis produced by iontophoresis for the combined use of electroporation and iontophoresis to attain a high skin-penetration enhancing effect.

Role of solvent in interactions between fatty acids-based formulations and lipids in porcine stratum corneum

Fatty acids are commonly used as permeation enhancers to increase skin permeation of drug molecules by interacting with the intercellular lipids in the skin. The influences of the chain length of the fatty acid in different solvents on the stratum corneum (SC) lipids were investigated to further understand the mechanism of permeation enhancement of fatty acids. Gravimetric studies showed that SC absorbed propylene glycol (PG)-based formulations to a greater extent than mineral oil (MO)-based formulations and there was no correlation between the nature of fatty acid and the formulation uptake for PG-based formulations. High formulation uptake was only observed for MO-based formulation when more hydrophilic acids like acetic acid and propionic acid were added. Spectroscopic studies revealed that the vibrations of alkyl chains in the stratum corneum lipids were dependent on the solvent used. Fatty acids with short chains were able to perturb the SC lipids in lipophilic MO but not in PG based on symmetric peak shifts. For the PG-based formulations, skin perturbation was attained when long chain fatty acid such as oleic acid was present. The results showed that the nature of solvent played an important role in the interactions between the fatty acids and the intercellular lipids in the SC. These findings would make an important contribution to the choice of solvent in transdermal drug delivery systems.

Mechanism of the synergic effects of calcium chloride and electroporation on the in vitro enhanced skin permeation of drugs

We have already reported the substantial synergic effects of CaCl(2) and electroporation (EP) on in vitro skin permeation of calcein and FITC dextrans. In the present paper, we investigated the mechanisms for these effects by considering changes in lamellar structure and barrier recovery time of the biggest skin barrier, the stratum corneum, by this combined treatment. The change in skin lamellar structure was evaluated by lipid mobility in the stratum corneum using ATR-FTIR, calcein release from stratum corneum-lipid liposomes (SCLL), in vitro skin permeation of calcein and transepidermal water loss (TEWL). The ATR-FTIR measurement, in vitro skin permeation and changes in TEWL were also used for examining the barrier recovery time. The C-H stretching band of skin lipids produced with EP was blue-shifted when compared to that without EP. Asymmetric C-H stretching was highest with EP in CaCl(2) solution. Little release of calcein was observed from SCLL without EP, whereas higher releases were observed after EP with or without NaCl or CaCl(2). Particularly high calcein release (>20%) was observed over 60 min with EP in CaCl(2) solution. The in vitro permeation study of calcein was conducted through excised hairless rat skin that was pretreated with EP before skin excision. Permeation rate was highest in skin excised immediately after in vivo EP, and this rate decreased with time after EP treatment. TEWL recovered to control levels within 2 h after EP in distilled water or NaCl solution, whereas high TEWL was maintained after EP in CaCl(2) solution. These results suggest that at least lamellar destruction of stratum corneum must be related to the enhanced skin permeation of drugs by the combination of CaCl(2) and EPF. On the other hand, a prolonged enhancing effect on the skin permeation of calcein by this combination may be due to a high lamellar destruction and/or delayed barrier repair of stratum corneum.

Transdermal iontophoresis of 5-fluorouracil combined with electroporation and laser treatment

The influence of iontophoresis and other physical enhancement methods such as electroporation and erbium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (YAG) laser on the skin permeation of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) was examined. Iontophoresis increased the in vitro transdermal transport of both the anionic and non-ionic forms of 5-FU. A combination of electroporation pretreatment and subsequent iontophoresis resulted in a higher permeation of 5-FU than either technique alone. It appeared that electroporation treatment exerted a disruptive influence on the stratum corneum (SC). The SC layers in the skin were partly ablated by the laser, resulting in a great enhancement effect on the skin permeation of 5-FU. Application of iontophoresis further increased the drug permeation across laser-pretreated skin. The laser was consistently the most potent technique to enhance 5-FU delivery among the physical enhancement methods examined in this study.

Saturated anionic phospholipids enhance transdermal transport by electroporation

Anionic phospholipids, but not cationic or neutral phospholipids, were found to enhance the transdermal transport of molecules by electroporation. When added as liposomes to the milieus of water-soluble molecules to be delivered through the epidermis of porcine skin by electroporation, these phospholipids enhance, by one to two orders of magnitude, the transdermal flux. Encapsulation of molecules in liposomes is not necessary. Dimyristoylphosphatidylserine (DMPS), phosphatidylserine from bovine brain (brain-PS), dioleoylphosphatidylserine (DOPS), and dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol (DOPG) were used to test factors affecting the potency of anionic lipid transport enhancers. DMPS with saturated acyl chains was found to be a much more potent transport enhancer than those with unsaturated acyl chains (DOPS and DOPG). There was no headgroup preference. Saturated DMPS was also more effective in delaying resistance recovery after pulsing, and with a greater affinity in the epidermis after pulsing. Using fluorescent carboxyl fluorescein and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled Dextrans as test water-soluble molecules for transport, and rhodamine-labeled phospholipids to track anionic phospholipids, we found, by conventional and confocal fluorescence microscopy, that transport of water-soluble molecules was localized in local transport spots or regions (LTRs) created by the electroporation pulses. Anionic phospholipids, especially DMPS, were located at the center of the LTRs and spanned the entire thickness of the stratum corneum (SC). The degree of saturation of anionic phospholipids made no difference in the densities of LTRs created. We deduce that, after being driven into the epidermis by negative electric pulses, saturated anionic phospholipids mix and are retained better by the SC lipids. Anionic lipids prefer loose layers or vesicular rather than multilamellar forms, thereby prolonging the structural recovery of SC lipids to the native multilamellar form. In the presence of 1 mg/ml DMPS in the transport milieu, the flux of FITC-Dextran-4k was enhanced by 80-fold and reached 175 microg/cm(2)/min. Thus, the use of proper lipid enhancers greatly extends the upper size limit of transportable chemicals. Understanding the mechanism of lipid enhancers enables one to rationally design better enhancers for transdermal drug and vaccine delivery by electroporation.

Transdermal drug delivery by electroporation applied on the stratum corneum of rat using stamp-type electrode and frog-type electrode in vitro

Transdermal enhancement effects of electroporation applied only on the stratum corneum by two electrode types, the stamp-type electrode and the frog-type electrode, were investigated in vitro using excised rat skin. Carboxyfluorescein (CF) was selected as a model compound. The excised skin was set in a Franz type diffusion cell and a square wave electric pulse was applied to the stratum corneum under various electric pulse conditions. We determined the permeability of CF to the receptor compartment under these conditions. Voltage, electric pulse length, and number of electric pulses, were varied from 10 to 1000 V, 50 micros to 15 ms and 5 to 30 pulses, respectively. Flux rate was enhanced as the electric pulse condition strengthened. However, the maximum value was attained in the flux rate, above which no increase was observed despite strengthening of the electric pulse. Although at low electric pulses, the enhancement effect of the frog-type electrode was superior to that of the stamp-type electrode, the maximum flux rates were the same. These results indicate that electroporation on the stratum corneum using the stamp-type electrode or frog-type electrode, is useful for transdermal drug delivery.