Abstract
Prior studies in hairless mice have demonstrated that acute barrier disruption by acetone treatment increases the molecular weight (MW) cutoff of polyethylene glycol (PEG) penetration through the skin. The objective of the present study was to further investigate the dependence of permeability on MW with different forms of barrier disruption. A series of PEGs ranging in MW from near 300 to over 1000 Da were used to study the effects of tape stripping and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) treatment on the MW permeability profiles of mouse skin in vitro. The 12-h percutaneous penetration of all the PEG 300, 600, and 1000 oligomers generally increased as a function of transepidermal water loss (TEWL) of the skin, either tape-stripped or SDS-treated. In addition, the total penetration of PEG oligomers across control skin, and skin tape-stripped and SDS-treated to different degrees of barrier disruption progressively decreased with increasing MW. There were no significant differences in the percutaneous penetration of the PEG oligomers between skin tape-stripped and SDS-treated to the same degree of barrier disruption. The penetration enhancement relative to control skin was more prominent with larger molecules. The MW cutoff for skin penetration increased with the degree of barrier disruption irrespective of the treatment applied, and was 986 Da (tape stripping) and 766 Da (SDS treatment) at TEWL levels in the range 10–20 g/m2 per h in comparison with 414 Da for control skin. In accordance with previous findings in acetone-treated mouse skin, the results strongly suggest that, irrespective of the form of barrier disruption applied, not only higher amounts but also more varieties of chemicals (larger molecules) may penetrate skin with a compromised barrier than normal skin.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anigbogu ANC, Williams AC, Barry BW (1996) Permeation characteristics of 8-methoxypsoralen through human skin: relevance to clinical treatment. J Pharm Pharmacol 48:357–366
Allen A, Siegfried E, Silverman R, Williams ML, Elias PM, Szabo SK, Korman NJ (2001) Significant absorption of topical tacrolimus in 3 patients with Netherton syndrome. Arch Dermatol 137:747–750
Bos JD, Meinardi MMHM (2000) The 500 dalton rule for the skin penetration of chemical compounds and drugs. Exp Dermatol 9:165–169
Donovan MD, Flynn GL, Amidon GL (1990) Absorption of polyethylene glycols 600 through 2000: the molecular weight dependence of gastrointestinal and nasal absorption. Pharm Res 7:808–815
He UL, Murby S, Warhurst G, Fifford L, Walker D, Ayrton J, Eastmond R, Rowland M (1998) Species differences in size discrimination in the paracellular pathway reflected by oral bioavailability of poly(ethylene glycol) and D-peptide. J Pharm Sci 87:626–633
Hollander D, Koyama S, Dadufalza V, Tran DQ, Krugliak P, Ma T, Ling KY (1989) Polyethylene glycol 900 permeability of rat intestinal and colonic segments in vivo and brush border membrane vesicles in vitro. J Lab Clin Med 113:505–515
Keshary PR, Chien YW (1984) Mechanism of transdermal controlled nitroglycerin administration. (II) Assessment of rate controlling steps. Drug Dev Ind Pharm 10:1663–1699
Kinahan IM, Smyth MR (1991) High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of PEG 600 in human urine. J Chromatogr 565:297–307
Liaw J, Robinson JR (1992) The effect of polyethylene glycol molecular weight on corneal transport and the related influence of penetration enhancers. Int J Pharm 88:125–134
Lieb WR, Stein WD (1971) Implications of two different types of diffusion for biological membranes. Nature 234:219–222
Marty JP, Vincent CM, Ouvrard-Baraton F, Biesse JP, Aillaud C, Courtellemont P, Mikler C (2000) Inter-laboratory validation of the pig ear skin model for in vitro percutaneous absorption studies. Proceedings of the 27th International Symposium on Controlled Release Bioactive Materials, Controlled Release Society, pp 231–232
Menon GK, Elias PM (1997) Morphologic basis for the pore-pathway in mammalian stratum corneum. Skin Pharmacol 10:235–246
Potts RO, Guy RH (1992) Predicting skin permeability. Pharm Res 9:663–669
Raho E, Marconi B, Santini M, Zucchi A, Allegra F, Colombo P, Santi P (2000) 5-Methoxypsoralen accumulation in human skin after oral and transdermal administration. Proceedings of the 27th International Symposium on Controlled Release Bioactive Materials, Controlled Release Society, pp 169–170
Ruzicka T, Bieber T, Schöpf E, Rubins A, Dobozy A, Bos JD, Jablonska S, Ahmed I, Thestrup-Pedersen K, Daniel F, Finzi A, Reitamo S (1997) A short-term trial of tacrolimus ointment for atopic dermatitis. N Engl J Med 337:816–821
Tregear RT, Dirnhuber P (1962) The mass of keratin removed from the stratum corneum by stripping with adhesive tape. J Invest Dermatol 38:375–381
Tsai J-C, Weiner ND, Flynn GL, Ferry J (1991) Properties of adhesive tapes used for stratum corneum stripping. Int J Pharm 72:227–231
Tsai J-C, Guy RH, Thornfeldt CR, Gao WN, Feingold KR, Elias PM (1996) Metabolic approaches to enhance transdermal drug delivery. 1. Effect of lipid synthesis inhibitors. J Pharm Sci 85:643–648
Tsai J-C, Chuang S-A, Hsu M-Y, Sheu H-M (1999) Distribution of salicylic acid in human stratum corneum following topical application in vivo: a comparison of six different formulations. Int J Pharm 188:145–153
Tsai J-C, Hung P-L, Sheu H-M (2001a) Molecular weight dependence of polyethylene glycol penetration across acetone disrupted permeability barrier. Arch Dermatol Res 293:302–307
Tsai J-C, Sheu H-M, Hung P-L, Cheng C-L (2001b) Effect of barrier disruption by acetone treatment on the permeability of compounds with various lipophilicities: implications for the permeability of compromised skin. J Pharm Sci 90:1242–1254
Tsai J-C, Chen I-H, Wong T-W, Lo Y-L (2002) In vitro/in vivo correlations between transdermal delivery of 5-aminolevulinic acid and cutaneous protoporphyrin IX accumulation and effect of formulation. Br J Dermatol 146:853–862
Turner NG, Ferry L, Price M, Cullander C, Guy RH (1997) Iontophoresis of poly-L-lysines: the role of molecular weight? Pharm Res 14:1322–1331
Van der Valk PJM, Nater JP, Bleumink E (1984) Skin irritancy of surfactants as assessed by water vapor loss measurement. J Invest Dermatol 82:291–293
Van Leent EJM, Graeber M, Thurston M, Wagenaar A, Spuls PI, Bos JD (1998) Topical treatment with the macrolactam SDZ ASM 981 is effective in atopic dermatitis. Arch Dermatol 134:805–809
Warner RR, Boissy YL, Lilly NA, Spears MJ, McKillop K, Marshall JL, Stone KJ (1999) Water disrupts stratum corneum lipid lamellae: damage is similar to surfactant. J Invest Dermatol 113:960–966
Wilhelm K-P, Surber C, Maibach HI (1989) Quantification of sodium lauryl sulfate irritant dermatitis in man: comparison of four techniques: skin color reflectance, transepidermal water loss, laser Doppler flow measurement and visual scores. Arch Dermatol Res 281:293–295
Wilhelm K-P, Surber C, Maibach HI (1991) Effect of sodium lauryl sulfate-induced skin irritation on in vivo percutaneous penetration of four drugs. J Invest Dermatol 97:927–932
Yang L, Man M-Q, Taljebini M, Elias PM, Feingold KR (1994) Topical stratum corneum lipids accelerate barrier repair after tape stripping, solvent treatment and some but not all types of detergent treatment. Br J Dermatol 133:679–685
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Ms. Ya-Ru Yang for her technical assistance. This work was supported by grant NSC 88-2314-B006-015 from the National Science Council of Taiwan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tsai, JC., Shen, LC., Sheu, HM. et al. Tape stripping and sodium dodecyl sulfate treatment increase the molecular weight cutoff of polyethylene glycol penetration across murine skin. Arch Dermatol Res 295, 169–174 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-003-0414-7
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-003-0414-7