Electroporation of Mammalian Skin: A Mechanism to Enhance Transdermal Drug Delivery

Mammalian skin owes its remarkable barrier function to its outermost and dead layer, the stratum corneum. Transdermal transport through this region occurs predominantly through intercellular lipids, organized largely in bilayers. Electroporation is the creation of aqueous pores in lipid bilayers by...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 90; no. 22; pp. 10504 - 10508
Main Authors Prausnitz, Mark R., Bose, Vanu G., Langer, Robert, Weaver, James C.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington, DC National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 15.11.1993
National Acad Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Subjects
Administration, Cutaneous
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Cadaver
Cell Membrane Permeability
Drug therapy
Electric fields
Electric potential
Electric pulses
Electrodes
Electroporation
Electroporation - methods
Epidermis
Epidermis - physiology
Fluoresceins - administration & dosage
General pharmacology
Humans
In Vitro Techniques
Medical research
Medical sciences
Membrane Potentials
Molecules
Pharmaceutical technology. Pharmaceutical industry
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Rats
Skin
Skin Physiological Phenomena
Transdermal application
Human
Transdermal system
Rat
Rodentia
Electroporation
In vitro
Mechanism
Percutaneous route
In vivo
Iontophoresis
Vertebrata
Mammalia
Skin
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Mammalian skin owes its remarkable barrier function to its outermost and dead layer, the stratum corneum. Transdermal transport through this region occurs predominantly through intercellular lipids, organized largely in bilayers. Electroporation is the creation of aqueous pores in lipid bilayers by the application of a short (microseconds to milliseconds) electric pulse. Our measurements suggest that electroporation occurs in the intercellular lipid bilayers of the stratum corneum by a mechanism involving transient structural changes. Flux increases up to 4 orders of magnitude were observed with human skin in vitro for three polar molecules having charges between -1 and -4 and molecular weights up to slightly more than 1000. Similar flux increases were observed in vivo with animal skin. These results may have significance for drug delivery and other medical applications.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ObjectType-Article-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.90.22.10504