PERCUTANEOUS PERMEATION OF BASIC COMPOUNDS THROUGH SHED SNAKE SKIN ASA MODEL MEMBRANE

Relationships between the in-vitro permeability of basic compounds thr ough shed snake skin as a suitable model membrane for human stratum co rneum and their physicochemical properties were investigated. Compound s with low pK(a) values were selected to compare the permeabilities of non-ionized forms of the compounds. Steady-state penetration was achi eved immediately without a lag time for all compounds. Flux rate and p ermeability coefficient were calculated from the steady-state penetrat ion data and relationships between these parameters and the physicoche mical properties were investigated. The results showed that permeabili ty may be controlled by the lipophilicity and the molecular size of th e compounds. Equations were developed to predict the permeability from the molecular weights and the partition coefficients of basic compoun ds.