The Role of Surfactant In, and a Comparison Of, the Permeability of Porcine and Human Epithelia to Various Chemical Compounds
Year: 2005
Type: dissertation
Abstract: In this thesis, research results are reported on the role of natural and synthetic \nsurfactants on the in vitro permeability characteristics of various chemical \ncompounds across porcine (buccal, bronchial, arterial, venous and rectal) and \nhuman (vaginal) tissues. The permeability flux values of the different \ncompounds (arecoline, 17β-estradiol, hydrocortisone, dexamethasone, \nvasopressin, oxytocin, zidovudine and isoniazid) were determined using a \ncontinuous flow-through diffusion system. Mean steady state flux values were \ncompared statistically by means of a t-test at a significance level of 5% as well \nas an F-test using whole curve comparisons. The results indicated that the \nsynthetic pulmonary surfactant Biopolsurf is an effective enhancer for the \npermeation of chemical compounds through most of the tissues tested and \nthat molecular weight, electrostatic charge, partitioning of the molecules in \nsurfactant and surfactant concentration play an important role in trans \nmembrane diffusion. \nIn addition the epithelial permeability of the different types of tissues for \nvarious chemical compounds (arecoline, 17β-estradiol, hydrocortisone, \ndexamethasone, vasopressin and oxytocin) across the above tissues were \ncompared. The results obtained showed that the permeability flux values of \nthe compounds across porcine bronchial and human vaginal tissues were \nconsistently similar and that porcine buccal tissue had the lowest permeability \nof all tissues tested. This was in agreement with previous in vitro studies. It \nwas concluded that a wide variation in the permeability characteristics of \ndifferent epithelia exists and that the pulmonary epithelium, due to its high \npermeability, is probably the most effective epithelium for drug delivery \npurposes, especially for drugs that undergo extensive gastrointestinal or \nhepatic first-pass metabolism.
Author: Ianda Viljoen
Language: English
Subfield: Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
Field: Chemistry
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2106206618