Percutaneous absorption of griseofulvin and proquazone in the rat and in isolated human skin.

Ointments containing griseofulvin and proquazone, respectively, were made up of monoglycerides of medium chain length and an aprotic solvent, glycerinformal. The ointments were applied topically on the back of bile cannulated rats. The total amount absorbed percutaneously and the permeability constants of both drugs were considerably higher for the ointments than for simple solutions of the drugs without monoglycerides. Distribution of the labeled drugs in rat skin has been demonstrated by microautoradiography. Concentrations of the drugs in the different layers of human skin together with the medium flow rates have been determined 16 h after administration of the ointments onto isolated human skin. Monoglycerides of medium chain length enhance significantly the permeability of the stratum corneum for solutes.