ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate the changes of matrine concentration in rat local skin with time after transdermal administration of matrine transfersomes, and to evaluate the transdermal delivery properties. Methods: The matrine transfersomes were applied non-occlusively onto rat skin in vivo with abdominal hair removal, and the concentration of drugs in microdialysate of skin was detected by microdialysis and reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography. Furthermore, the concentration-time curves of matrine in microdialysates of skin were compared among marine transfersomes, liposomes, and deoxysodium cholate solution. Results: After the transfersomes were given to rats, the maximum peak time (tmax) of matrine skin concentration appeared at (4.200 ± 0.447) h. The maximum skin concentration (Cmax) was (0.927 ± 0.251) μg/mL and area under the curve (AUC0-8) was (5.033 ± 1.526) μg·h·mL-1, which were much higher than those of the liposomes and the solution (containing 0.8% sodium deoxycholate, P < 0.05), while tmax shortened much more than that of them. Conclusion: In vivo skin microdialysis could be used to assess the transdermal delivery properties of matrine transfersomes. And matrine transfersomes have the good transdermal permeability and efficacy.