Tetrahydropalmatine's permeative properties of acupoint and non-acupoint transdermal administration of Baijiezi Tufang in vitro and in vivo / 中国中药杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study tetrahydropalmatine's permeative properties of acupoint and non-adupoint transdermal administration of baijiezi tufang in vitro and in vivo.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Taking tetrahydropalmatine as an evaluative component to assess the permeative of baijiezi tufang in acupoint skin and non-acupoint skin with the modified Franz diffusion cell method and in vivo penetration studies. The content of tetrahydropalmatine was determined by a HPLC method.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The 24 hours cumulative permeation amount through acupoint skin was (13.53 +/- 3.92) microg x cm(-2), about 4 times higher than non-acupoint skin. The steady-state infiltration rates of tetrahydropalmatine in acupoint skin was (0.659 1 microg x cm(-2) x h(-1)), 4.5 times higher than non-acupoint skin. The content in acupoint skin was signally higher than that in non-acupoint skin (P < 0.05). An accumulation of fluorescence can be clearly seen in the four layers: stratum corneum > viable epidermis > dermis > subcutaneous.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>In vitro and in vivo studies show that the permeation of baijiezi tufang in acupoint skin was better than in non-acupoint skin, following a higher cumulative amount and skin content.</p>