Flux enhancement effects of ionic surfactants upon passive and electroosmotic transdermal transport

This study focused upon the enhancement effects of ionic surfactants upon passive and electroosmotic transdermal flux. The first phase of the study involved validating theories relating surface properties of a membrane to electroosmotic solvent flow under appropriate experimental conditions using a synthetic model membrane (stack of 50 Nuclepore membranes). Numerical solutions to the Poisson-Boltzmann equation and the equations of fluid motion served as the theoretical basis for the experimental studies. Important outcomes of the model membrane studies were that electroosmotic solvent flow velocity was enhanced by the addition of an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate, and reversed by the addition of a cationic surfactant, dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide. The effective membrane pore wall surface charge densities were determined under a variety of experimental conditions. Adsorption of dodecyl sulfate to the pore wall increased the net negative charge on the pore wall. A reversal of the net pore wall surface charge density resulted from the adsorption of dodecyltrimethylammonium. The interrelationship between electroosmosis, surfactant adsorption, and ionic strength was also evaluated. The second phase of the study was an investigation of the effects of sodium dodecyl sulfate upon the transport of neutral polar permeants through human epidermal membrane (HEM). Fluxes of [14C]urea and [3H]sucrose were simultaneously measured across HEM samples under passive and 250 mV conditions; flux measurements were made before, during, and after HEM exposure to sodium dodecyl sulfate. A systematic analysis of the experimental data made it possible to elucidate the specific contributions of sodium dodecyl sulfate and the applied electric potential to the overall flux enhancement. Sodium dodecyl sulfate enhanced the intrinsic passive permeability of the HEM, and it also enhanced the contribution of electroosmosis to the flux during iontophoresis.