The Effect Of Electroporation On Transdermal Drug Delivery

Electroporation involves the creation of transient aqueous pathways across lipid bilayer membranes by applying a short, high-voltage pulse.The mechanism of electroporation was studied in this article. It was found that electroporation could change skin properties and increase transdermal drug delivery. It could create new pathways (the diameter was about 100-400μm ) on skin, and could dramatically decrease the skin resistance. And that the mechanism varied slightly due to the different properties of drugs.Hydrophilic macromolecules heparin sodium and hydrophobic hormone testosterone were used as models to study the enhancement and influence of electroporation on transdermal drug delivery in vitro and in vivo.The methods of HPLC-FI and HPLC-ELSD for determination of heparin sodium were established. It was showed that transdermal delivery of macromolecules can be achieved by skin electroporation, which could be a promising alternative administration for protein and vaccines.The effects of electroporation on the transdermal transport of testosterone were also investigated. The electrical parameters, such as voltage, pulse time, and the design of electrodes were preliminarily discussed. The results showed that electroporation could increase the rate of drug penetration and the cumulative amount. A reasonable correlation between cumulative amount and electrical parameters was found, and the electrodes significantly influenced the rate of drug penetration.New device and electrodes were developed; electroporation transdermal delivery systems of heparin sodium and testosterone were prepared.