Pharmaceutics (May 2010)

A Comparative Study of Transmembrane Diffusion and Permeation of Ibuprofen across Synthetic Membranes Using Franz Diffusion Cells

  • Shiow-Fern Ng,
  • Jennifer Rouse,
  • Dominic Sanderson,
  • Gillian Eccleston

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics2020209
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2, no. 2
pp. 209 – 223

Abstract

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Synthetic membranes used in Franz diffusion cells for topical formulation quality assessment should provide least resistance to drug diffusion. In this study, the diffusion rates of ibuprofen across thirteen membranes were determined using Franz diffusion cells. Correlation of the membrane thickness, pore size and MWCO with drug fluxes was also made. The drug diffusion results showed that the porous membranes were categorized into high-flux (8–18 mg/cm2/h) and low-flux (0.1–3 mg/cm2/h) membranes. The drug fluxes did not show strong correlations (r2 < 0.99) with membrane parameters. Synthetic membranes can give variable drug fluxes, thus investigators should be careful in choosing membrane for formulation quality assessment.

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