Transcutaneous sampling of ciprofloxacin and 8-methoxypsoralen by electroporation (ETS technique)

The novel technique of transcutaneous sampling of drugs by electroporation was developed to study the dermatokinetics of ciprofloxacin and 8-methoxypsoralen. The selected drugs differ in their aqueous solubility and also with respect to the extent of protein binding. Ciprofloxacin (15 mg/kg) was administered i.v. through tail vein, whereas 8-methoxypsoralen (5 mg/kg) was given by oral administration, in hairless rats and the time course of drug concentration in the plasma was determined. Drug concentration in the dermal extracellular fluid (ECF) was determined by ETS and microdialysis sampling techniques. The extent of penetration into dermal ECF for ciprofloxacin and 8-methoxypsoralen was found to be ∼19–32% and ∼13–23%, respectively. The drug concentration in the dermal ECF determined by ETS and microdialysis did not differ significantly from each other and so as were the pharmacokinetic parameters. The results show that ETS can be utilized as a potential technique for sampling of drugs from the dermal ECF.