Transdermal delivery of drugs with differing lipophilicities using azone analogs as dermal penetration enhancers

Six model drugs were selected for this study based on their degree of lipophilicity as represented by their log P values (range = -0.95 to 3.51). They included 2,4-dihydroxy-5-fluoropyrimidine (5-fluorouracil); 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine (caffeine); [(2-hydroxybenzoyl)amino]-acetic acid (salicyluric acid); 2-hydroxybenzoic acid (salicylic acid); 9 alpha-fluoro-16 alpha-hydroxyprednisolone 16 alpha, 17 alpha-acetonide (triamcinolone acetonide); and alpha-methyl-4-[2-methylpropyl]benzeneacetic acid (ibuprofen). Six dermal penetration enhancers [Azone or 1-dodecylhexahydro-2H-azepin-2-one (1), N-dodecyl-2-pyrrolidinone (2), N-dodecyl-2-piperidinone (3), N-dodecyl-N-(2-methoxyethyl)acetamide (4), N-(2,2-dihydroxyethyl)dodecylamine (5), and 2-(1-nonyl)-1,3-dioxolane (6)] were tested in vitro across full-thickness hairless mouse skin with each of the drugs. The relationship between lipophilicity (log P) and efficacy (represented by the enhancement ratio of flux) of the drugs when coadministered with the enhancers was examined using linear regression. The three cyclic enhancers (1-3) exhibited linear relationships, indicating that they were more effective at enhancing the penetration of hydrophilic drugs R2 = 0.8997 for 1, 0.8801 for 2, and 0.804 for 3) when evaluating all the model drugs except triamcinolone acetonide (TA). The two acyclic enhancers (4 and 5) showed a similar relationship, but their correlation coefficients were lower at 0.6463 for 4 and 0.6213 for 5. Studies with the dioxolane (6) yielded no relationship between the lipophilicity of the drug and the efficacy of the enhancer, with an R2 of 0.002. Overall, 6 was the least effective enhancer studied. The steroid TA was not included in the linear regression analysis. Of the six model drugs studied, TA exhibited the largest increase in transdermal delivery when enhancers 1-6 were used.