Drug Permeation through Egg Shell Membranes

Abstract

In order to establish an in vitro method for determining drug release from ointments, the drug permeability and the drug release from ointments were investigated using egg shell membrane and isopropyl myristate (IPM)-containing membrane, and the results were compared with the in vivo results. The results of the permeation of salicylic acid at various pH values showed that egg shell membrane behaved as a dialysis membrane in the same way as cellulose membrane, while IPM-containing egg shell membrane behaved as a partition membrane in the same way as polyamide lipoid membrane. In the release experiments with betamethasone 17-valerate from various ointments, the release from hydrophilic ointment was substantial, followed by that from absorption ointment, and that from white vaseline was the least. These results were correlated with those of in vivo vasoconstrictor assay. Although macrogol ointment showed high drug release, since it changed into a solution due to the diffusion of water from receptor solution, the vasoconstrictor activity was lower than those of the other ointments. © 1980, The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan. All rights reserved.