When we select any drug for topical use, first we talk about the skin partition coefficient of that drug. How can we determine the skin partition coefficient of any drug selected for topical use?
I think it also depends on the drug delivery system. i.e. if we are talking about transdermal patches, then during selection of drug it is required, but in case of elastic vesicles, skin partition coefficient is not a mandatory parameter.
Are the experienced researchers in such a type of investigation agreeing with me?
Skin occlusion with wraps or impermeable plastic films prevents the loss of surface water from the skin and this causes increased level of hydration in the stratum corneum thereby decreasing the protein network density and the diffusional path length. This increases skin penetration. Occlusion of the skin surface also increases skin temperature by 2-3 resulting in increased molecular motion and skin penetration.
Your scepticism is rightly placed. In case of the cases, where the drug is being carried through the skin with the help of vesicles in a dissolved form (either in aqueous or lipidic layer), partitioning of the drug will not be major issue.
However, when the drug is to penetrate the skin by itself, the factor, of course, assumes greater importance.
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