Analysis of drug penetration through the skin by the two-layer skin model

A diffusion model for the skin penetration of drug in the finite-dose system was developed considering the skin to be composed of two layers, the outermost layer (stratum corneum) and the lower layer (viable epidermis and dermis). Based on this skin model, the Laplace transforms of the equations for the drug amounts in the receptor, the vehicle, and the skin were derived. The penetration profiles of 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) through the intact and stripped guinea pig skin were obtained from in vitro diffusion experiments. The computer fitting of those profiles to the Laplace-transformed equations by a nonlinear least-squares program based on a fast inverse Laplace transform algorithm [MULTI-(FILT)] gave parameters such as diffusion coefficients of 6-MP and thicknesses of both layers. The mean transit time (MTT) for each diffusion process was defined based on statistical moment concept and calculated using the obtained parameters. Under the present condition, the process to move from the vehicle to the stratum corneum is demonstrated to have the longest mean time in overall processes of 6-MP penetration.