Surfactant-enhanced transdermal delivery by electroporation

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Dermatology
• Pharmaceutics

Background:

• Transdermal drug delivery offers a non-invasive route for systemic medication.
• Electroporation is a technique that enhances molecule permeation across the skin.
• Optimizing electroporation efficiency requires understanding factors that modulate skin barrier properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on transdermal transport using electroporation.
• To determine how SDS influences skin resistance and the electroporation threshold.
• To assess SDS's impact on the delivery of various molecular weight molecules.

Main Methods:

• Porcine epidermis was treated with 0.2% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution.
• Skin resistance measurements were taken over 24 hours.
• Electroporation was applied to assess transdermal transport of glucose and dextrans (4 kDa, 10 kDa, 35 kDa).
• Electroporation threshold voltage was determined before and after SDS pretreatment.

Main Results:

• SDS treatment reduced porcine epidermis resistance by 40% within 24 hours.
• SDS significantly enhanced the transdermal delivery of glucose, 4 kDa, and 10 kDa dextrans via electroporation.
• The transport of 35 kDa dextran was not significantly affected by SDS.
• SDS pretreatment lowered the electroporation threshold from 80 V to 60 V.

Conclusions:

• Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) effectively enhances transdermal delivery of smaller molecules during electroporation.
• SDS likely disrupts the skin barrier and prolongs electropore lifetime, reducing the required electrical dose.
• SDS shows potential for optimizing electroporation-mediated transdermal drug delivery systems.