Effect of Alcohols on the Skin Permeation of Various Drugs

In this study we have focused on three types of alcohols: ethanol (EtOH), 2-propanol (IPA), and 1-propanol (NPA), and examined the skin permeability of drugs with different physicochemical properties: ketoprofen (KPF; hydrophobic), cimetidine (CMT; slightly hydrophobic), and caffeine (CF; hydrophilic). The results revealed EtOH particularly enhanced the skin permeation of CF, while IPA enhanced skin permeation regardless of the type of drug. In contrast, NPA significantly increased the skin permeability of KPF and CMT, but had little effect on CF. The differing effects of the alcohols on skin permeation appear to be linked to the physicochemical properties of the drugs. KPF is more hydrophobic than the other drugs, suggesting that it uses the intercellular pathway in the stratum corneum for permeation. CMT has intermediate properties between hydrophilic and hydrophobic, resulting in low skin permeability and ineffective utilization of both the transepidermal and transappendageal pathways. CF mainly utilized the transappendageal pathways for skin permeation because of its smaller molecular weight and more hydrophilic as compared with the other drugs. These results suggest that the effect of different alcohols on enhancing drug skin permeation is not uniform and that the optimal alcohol for enhancing permeability may vary depending on the drug. Therefore, the selection of appropriate additives based on the physicochemical properties of the drug, such as hydrophilicity, hydrophobicity, and molecular weight, is crucial for developing effective transdermal formulation.