ARTICLE AUTHOR: Jadoul-A; Doucet-J; Durand-D; Preat-V

REPRINT AUTHOR: Preat, V; UNIV CATHOLIQUE LOUVAIN; ECOLE PHARM, UNITE PHARM GALEN, AV E MOUNIER 73120; B-1200 BRUSSELS; BELGIUM

SOURCE: JOURNAL-OF-CONTROLLED-RELEASE. NOV 1996; 42 (2) : 165-173

ABSTRACT:

The aim of the present work was to investigate stratum corneum (s.c.) structure after prolonged in vitro iontophoresis by two physical techniques: ATR-FTIR and X-ray scattering. ATR-FTIR studies showed that iontophoresis induced an important and reversible increase in the hydration of the outer layers of s.c. but no increase in lipid fluidity could be detected. SAXS (small angle X-ray scattering) of s.c. showed that iontophoresis induced a disorganisation of the lipid layers stacking reversible within a few days. No modification of the intralamellar crystalline packing of lipids nor of keratin were observed by WAXS (wide angle X-ray scattering). From our ATR-FTIR and X-ray scattering observations, it can be assumed that the enhancement in transdermal permeation which characterizes iontophoresis is related to the lipid layer stacking disorganisation.