Evaluation of Göttingen minipig skin for transdermal in vitro permeation studies

The optimal skin type for in vitro permeability studies depends on the purpose of the specific transdermal study. In a number of cases, it may be advantageous to use animal skin as an alternative to human skin although they have different characteristics. Recently, Göttingen minipigs have been reported as good models in toxicological and pharmacokinetic studies of drug substances. In this paper, the potential use of skin from the Göttingen minipig is evaluated by studying three model drug substances (nicotine, salicylic acid and testosterone) through skin from humans, domestic pigs and three ages of the Göttingen minipig. An analysis of variance and a Student's t-test showed that both the skin from the Göttingen minipig and the domestic pig possessed transdermal permeabilities, which correlated with human skin and exhibited a lower intra- and intervariation. Furthermore, it was shown that permeability and variation of fluxes through skin from Göttingen minipigs were dependent on the age of the minipig and of the drug substance. It is concluded that the Göttingen minipig, like the domestic pig, is a good skin model for in vitro permeation through human skin.