Comparative investigations to evaluate the use of organotypic cultures of transformed and native dermal and epidermal cells for permeation studies.

In a comparative study organotypic cultures of both transformed and native dermal and epidermal cells were used for permeation studies. In these organotypic cultures the dermal cells are incorporated into a contracted collagen gel, the epidermal cells are seeded on top of this gel and form a multilayered stratified epidermis when cultivated at the air-liquid interface. For permeation studies two different donor systems containing ibuprofen acid were used, Ibutop-Creme and Dolgit-Mikrogel. Studies using excised human stratum corneum showed differences in drug permeability for these two formulations which were also observed when the native organotypic cultures were used. In general, organotypic cultures show a higher permeability for topically applied drugs than excised human stratum corneum, the cultures consisting of transformed cells showed an increase in drug permeability for the Dolgit-Mikrogel compared with the native cultures which might be due to a higher sensitivity for the enhancer isopropanol in this formulation.