Synthetic membrane succeeds in skin permeation study

Researchers from Josai University have demonstrated that Merck Millipore’s Strat-M membrane - a synthetic, non-animal-based model for transdermal diffusion testing - predicts skin permeation of chemical compounds during in vitro transdermal diffusion studies as effectively as human or animal skin.

Introduced in 2012, Strat-M membrane is constructed of multiple layers, creating morphology similar to human skin. The membrane is individually packaged as precut discs that are easy to store and do not need to be hydrated prior to use.

The study, published in the European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, evaluated the ability of the Strat-M membrane to serve as an alternative to human and animal skin for estimating the skin permeability of chemical compounds including active pharmaceutical ingredients, cosmetic actives, personal care products and pesticides. Thirteen compounds were tested on excised human skin, hairless rat skin and Strat-M membrane.

“In vitro skin permeation studies are essential to development of new transdermal delivery systems,” said Dr Kenji Sugibayashi, a co-author on the study. “Biological models are often used to conduct this research, but there are various drawbacks, including high variability, low availability, safety considerations and storage limitations.”

The membrane provided highly consistent, reproducible diffusion data without the lot-to-lot variability that often occurs with biological models. Permeability coefficients obtained with Strat-M could be used to predict those obtained from the human and rat skins.

According to study co-author Dr Hiroaki Todo, “Our study suggests that the Strat-M membrane can serve as an alternative to human and animal skin in permeation studies, offering researchers a valuable tool for screening candidate compounds.”

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