Vehicle Effects on the In Vitro Penetration of Testosterone through Equine Skin

Strategies to Improve the Transdermal Delivery of Poorly Water-Soluble Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

The transdermal delivery of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) has the potential to overcome some of the major disadvantages relating to oral NSAID usage, such as gastrointestinal adverse events and compliance. However, the poor solubility of many of the newer NSAIDs creates challenges in incorporating the drugs into formulations suitable for application to skin and may limit transdermal permeation, particularly if the goal is therapeutic systemic drug concentrations. This review is an overview of the various strategies used to increase the solubility of poorly soluble NSAIDs and enhance their permeation through skin, such as the modification of the vehicle, the modification of or bypassing the barrier function of the skin, and using advanced nano-sized formulations. Furthermore, the simple yet highly versatile microemulsion system has been found to be a cost-effective and highly successful technology to deliver poorly water-soluble NSAIDs.

How to define the experimental conditions of skin permeation assays for drugs presenting biopharmaceutical limitations? The experience with testosterone

Cutaneous permeation assays are crucial to attest the performance or bioequivalence of topical or transdermal products. Although the official guidelines (e.g., FDA/EMA) play a key role in harmonizing the experimental design, alternative methods are often proposed by the scientific community, which makes it difficult to compare results from different studies. In this review, permeation assays with testosterone (TST) were selected to show this high variability in drug transport rate. The main sources of variation discussed were tissue thickness, animal model, donor and receptor fluid constitution, type of solubilizing agent used in aqueous fluids, drug concentration, degree of supersaturation, skin lipid content, number of experimental times and the physical-chemical stability of the molecule in test fluids. This variation becomes even more critical for molecules that present biopharmaceutical limitations such as TST. In addition, the skin presents specific receptors for this hormone due to its physiological action in this region of the body, which makes the evaluation of the TST transport rate in this tissue even more challenging. The impact of each experimental parameter mentioned above on the flux or permeation coefficient of TST is discussed in detail in the review. Assays used to evaluate tissue integrity are also presented.

A review on the treatment and control of ectoparasite infestations in equids

Ectoparasites infestations are a growing concern to horse owners and equine veterinarians alike. Ectoparasites cause significant health and welfare issues and can potentially can serve as vectors for a variety of pathogens. The prevalence of ectoparasites increases around the world, and especially in horses information on the successful prevention and treatment of ectoparasite infestations in scarce and in many instances anecdotal. This poses a challenge to the equine veterinarian and off-label use of drugs can lead to detrimental effects in horses. In this review we describe the current available evidence for the prevention and treatment of ectoparasite infestations in horses. Only a very limited number of products is approved for the use in horses and fortunately many of the other products that are used in an off-label manner appear to be safe in horses. Future research in this area should aim at providing PK/PD modelling data to assure appropriate and safe dose regimen to prevent and treat ectoparasite infestations in horses.

Combined Use of N-Palmitoyl-Glycine-Histidine Gel and Several Penetration Enhancers on the Skin Permeation and Concentration of Metronidazole

N-Palmitoyl-Glycine-Histidine (Pal-GH) is a novel low molecular weight gelator. In our previous report, ivermectin, a lipophilic drug, was effectively delivered to skin tissue after topical application with Pal-GH as a spray gel formulation, and a much higher skin concentration was confirmed than with the administration of a conventional oral formulation. The objective of this study was to increase the skin permeation of metronidazole (MTZ), a hydrophilic drug, after the topical application of Pal-GH gel. An evaluation of the combined effect of chemical penetration enhancers (CPEs), such as isopropyl myristate (IPM), propylene glycol (PG), ethanol, diethylene glycol monoethyl ether, and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), on skin permeation was also conducted. We found that a 5% Pal-GH gel containing 1% MTZ (F5_MTZ) exhibited a 2.7-fold higher MTZ permeation through excised hairless rat skin than its solution. Furthermore, F5_PG-MTZ and F5_IPM-MTZ further increased the skin permeation of MTZ when compared to F5_MTZ. Interestingly, F5_PG-MTZ enhanced the skin penetration of MTZ, although no enhancement effect was observed for an MTZ solution containing PG. Thus, a Pal-GH formulation containing PG and IPM may enhance the skin permeation of MTZ.

The effects of chemical and physical penetration enhancers on the percutaneous permeation of lidocaine through equine skin

Background

The effect of physical and chemical permeation enhancers on in vitro transdermal permeation of lidocaine was investigated in the horse.

Therefore, the effect of six vehicles (phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), 50% ethanol, 50% propylene glycol, 50% isopropylalcohol, 50% isopropylalcohol/isopropylmyristate and 50% dimethylsulfoxide) was examined as well as the effect of microneedle pretreatment with different needle lengths on transdermal drug delivery of lidocaine.

The skin was obtained from the thorax of six Warmblood horses and was stored up to two weeks at - 20°C. Franz-type diffusion cells were used to study the transdermal permeation through split skin (600 μm thickness). The amount of lidocaine in the receptor fluid was determined by UV–VIS high-performance liquid chromatography.

Results

All investigated vehicle supplementations diminished the transdermal flux of lidocaine through equine skin in comparison to pure PBS except dimethylsulfoxide, which resulted in comparable permeation rates to PBS. The maximum flux (J_max) was 1.6-1.8 fold lower for lidocaine applied in 50% ethanol, propylene glycol, isopropylalcohol and isopropylalcohol/isopropylmyristate. A significant higher J_max of lidocaine was observed when lidocaine was applied in PBS onto microneedle pretreated skin with similar permeation rates in both needle lengths. After 6 hours, 1.7 fold higher recovery rates were observed in the microneedle pretreated skin samples than in the untreated control samples. The lagtimes were reduced to 20–50% in the microneedle pretreated skin samples.

Conclusion

Microneedles represent a promising tool for transdermal lidocaine application in the horse with a rapid systemic bioavailability.

How membrane permeation is affected by donor delivery solvent

We investigate theoretically and experimentally how the rate and extent of membrane permeation is affected by switching the donor delivery solvent from water to squalane for different permeants and membranes. In a model based on rate-limiting membrane diffusion, we derive explicit equations showing how the permeation extent and rate depend mainly on the membrane-donor and membrane-receiver partition coefficients of the permeant. Permeation results for systems containing all combinations of hydrophilic or hydrophobic donor solvents (aqueous solution or squalane), permeants (caffeine or testosterone) and polymer membranes (cellulose or polydimethylsiloxane) have been measured using a cell with stirred donor and re-circulating receiver compartments and continuous monitoring of the permeant concentration in the receiver phase. Relevant partition coefficients are also determined. Quantitative comparison of model and experimental results for the widely-differing permeation systems successfully enables the systematic elucidation of all possible donor solvent effects in membrane permeation. For the experimental conditions used here, most of the permeation systems are in agreement with the model, demonstrating that the model assumptions are valid. In these cases, the dominant donor solvent effects arise from changes in the relative affinities of the permeant for the donor and receiver solvents and the membrane and are quantitatively predicted using the separately measured partition coefficients. We also show how additional donor solvent effects can arise when switching the donor solvent causes one or more of the model assumptions to be invalid. These effects include a change in rate-limiting step, permeant solution non-ideality and others.

Membrane permeation of testosterone from either solutions, particle dispersions, or particle-stabilized emulsions

We derive a unified model that accounts for the variation in extent and rate of membrane permeation by a permeating species with the type of donor compartment formulation (aqueous and oil solutions, particle dispersions, and oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions stabilized by particles) initially containing the permeant. The model is also applicable to either closed-loop or open-flow configurations of the receiver compartment of the permeation cell. Predictions of the model are compared with measured extents and rates of permeation of testosterone across an 80 μm thick polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane from donor compartments initially containing testosterone dissolved in either aqueous or isopropylmyristate (IPM) solutions, aqueous or IPM dispersions of silica nanoparticles or IPM-in-water or water-in-IPM emulsions stabilized by silica nanoparticles. Using a single set of input parameters, the model successfully accounts for the wide variations in permeation behavior observed for the different donor formulation types with either closed-loop or open flow configurations of the permeation cell receiver compartment.