ABSTRACT
The effects of several marine lipids on the penetration of hydrocortisone and nitroglycerin through excised hairless mouse skin have been studied. Fatty acid extracts obtained by hydrolysis of Portuguese dog-fish-liver-oil or by hydrolysis of cod-liver-oil were shown to be effective skin penetration enhancers. Phospholipid obtained from squid was also shown to be effective enhancer. However, the enhancing effect of the marine products could generally be associated with their content of free unsaturated fatty acids. The fatty acid extract obtained from cod-liver-oil caused insignificant skin irritation when incorporated into an ointment base and applied to human skin.
Subject(s)
Fish Oils/pharmacology , Skin Absorption/drug effects , Administration, Cutaneous , Administration, Topical , Adult , Animals , Anti-Inflammatory Agents/administration & dosage , Anti-Inflammatory Agents/pharmacokinetics , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Fish Oils/toxicity , Humans , Hydrocortisone , Irritants/toxicity , Mice , Mice, Hairless , Middle Aged , Ointments , Spectrophotometry, UltravioletABSTRACT
A fatty acid extract is discharged during the refining of medicinal cod-liver oil. The fatty acid composition of the extract was determined and it was found to contain an vast variety of fatty acids. About 17% of the fatty acids consisted of saturated fatty acids, the rest was unsaturated fatty acids. The extract was an effective transdermal penetration enhancer and this effect was found to be associated with the unsaturated portion of fatty acids.
