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Newborn pig skin as model membrane in in vitro drug permeation studies: A technical note

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Summary and Conclusions

The suitability of newborn pig skin as an alternative to human epidermis in in vitro permeation studies was investigated. A set of 7 benzoxazinones was used to perform in vitro experiments by using a modified Franz diffusion cell and excised newborn pig skin as a membrane. The maximum flux through newborn pig skin (J max,p) was compared with the maximum flux through excised human epidermis (J max,h), available from the literature, by means of the factor of difference value FoD=J max,p/Jmax,h. The FoD values ranged from 0.48 to 1.91, indicating thatJ max,p andJ max,h were in the same order of magnitude.

This result confirmed the suitability of this membrane to assess the permeability of not completely freely water soluble drugs, such as the set of benzoxazinones used in the present study and propranolol hydrochloride.3 Considering that the skin was withdrawn from animals that died of natural causes, the ethical problems connected with the use of animal skin in preliminary permeation screenings can be bypassed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto di Chimica Farmaceutica e Tossicologica, P. Pratesi, Università degli Studi di Milano, Viale Abruzzi, 42, 20131, Milan, Italy

    Francesco Cilurzo & Paola Minghetti

  2. Dipartimento Farmaco-Chimico-Technologico, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy

    Chiara Sinico

Authors
  1. Francesco Cilurzo
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  2. Paola Minghetti
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  3. Chiara Sinico
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Correspondence to Francesco Cilurzo.

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Published: November 9, 2007

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Cilurzo, F., Minghetti, P. & Sinico, C. Newborn pig skin as model membrane in in vitro drug permeation studies: A technical note. AAPS PharmSciTech 8, 94 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1208/pt0804094

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1208/pt0804094

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