Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Penetration Enhancing Effect of Polysorbate 20 and 80 on the In Vitro Percutaneous Absorption of L-Ascorbic Acid

N Akhtar¹, M U Rehman¹, HMS Khan¹, F Rasool², T Saeed², G Murtaza³

¹Faculty of Pharmacy and Alternative Medicine, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100; ²University College of Pharmacy, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan; ³Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, Pakistan.

For correspondence:- G Murtaza Email: gmdogar356@gmail.com Tel:00923142082826

Received: 8 August 2010 Accepted: 2 April 2011 Published: 24 June 2011

Citation: Akhtar N, Rehman MU, Khan H, Rasool F, Saeed T, Murtaza G. Penetration Enhancing Effect of Polysorbate 20 and 80 on the In Vitro Percutaneous Absorption of L-Ascorbic Acid. Trop J Pharm Res 2011; 10(3):281-288 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v10i3.1

© 2011 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the penetration enhancing effect of two polysorbates - polyoxyethylene 20 (POE-20) and polyoxyethylene 80 (POE-80) - on the in vitro percutaneous absorption of ascorbic acid (AA).

Methods: For the permeation experiments, Franz diffusion cell covered with aluminum foil providing an effective diffusion area of 1.76 cm² and hairless rabbit skin were used. A range of concentrations (1 – 5 %) of POE-20 and POE-80 was added to the ascorbic acid to determine their optimum enhancement concentration.

Results: The cumulative amount of AA that diffused across the skin increased with increase in the concentration of the permeation enhancers. Without the enhancer, AA flux was 0.626 µg/cm²/h while mean permeability coefficient (K_p) was 2.09 × 10^-6cm/h. AA flux was 3.17 and 2.44 µg/cm²/h for POE-20 and POE-80, respectively, while mean permeability coefficient was 10.6 × 10^-6 and 8.14 × 10^-6 K_p,cm/h. Maximum flux (3.16 µg/cm²/h) at POE-20 concentration of 5 % was obtained, with an enhancement ratio (ER) of 5.07 in relation to control (i.e., AA without enhancer). For POE-80 (5 %), maximum flux was 2.44 µg/cm²/h with an ER value of 3.89, compared to control.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates that POE-20 and POE-80 exerted a penetration enhancing effect on the percutaneous absorption of L-ascorbic acid (AA).

Keywords: L-Ascorbic acid, Skin permeation, Polyoxyethylene (Polysorbate), Flux, Penetration enhancers