Monitoring of Skin Penetration and Absorption with a New in Vivo Experimental Model

The purpose of the study was to use a new type of in vivo animal model developed by our research group for the investigation of skin penetration, compared to the results of Franz cell measurements. The new in vivo experimental model provides possibility for the exact measurement of the quantity of the penetrated drug through the living mouse skin. Two gel formulations containing ibuprofen were investigated with or without penetration enhancer. The applied penetration enhancer was Transcutol. The effect of the penetration enhancer was clearly detected in both models. The in vitro diffused amount of ibuprofen was significantly higher than the one permeated through the living skin. The presence of the active agent in the plasma was also determined after the observation period. It was possible to monitor the penetration and absorption of topical formulations simultaneously.