The skin is human’s largest and heaviest organ. Its most important function is as a barrier towards the external environment, which is made possible by the stratum corneum. If the barrier function is weakened, the absorption of foreign compounds and the loss of water through the skin are increased, which is not desired. Permeability of compounds through the skin is determined in vitro or in vivo. Most frequently an in vitro method utilizing the Franz diffusion chambers is used, since it is not ethically controversial in comparison to some other in vivo methods.
The aim of this thesis is to determine the permeability of five common essential oil constituents (camphor, linalool, menthol, linalyl acetate and 1,8-cineole). The experiment was conducted in Franz diffusion chambers with porcine ear skin. The sampling was done in a 24-hour window. For sample analysis our first choice was gas chromatography with FID detector. The pilot experiment showed that a more sensitive detection of the selected compounds in the extracts of the acceptor medium will be necessary. We therefore continued with a gas chromatography coupled with a mass spectrometer. An additional step of extraction was needed, since a hydrophilic medium a phosphate buffered saline with an additive for enhancing the sink conditions was necessary in acceptor fluid, in which the direct gas chromatography measurements are not possible. A high and repeatable recovery of the sample extraction process was necessary. We also tested if oleic acid improves permeability of the selected compounds, so we performed the tests with two different donor media.
In conclusion, gas chromatography with FID detector was not able to detect any of the selected compounds in acceptor solutions, while gas chromatography coupled with a mass spectrometer did, but not all of them were permeable enough for quantification. All tested compounds exhibited very low permeability. Among them the highest permeability belonged to camphor, followed by 1,8-cineole, linalool and menthol. We were not able to determine linalyl acetate in any of the acceptor medium samples, leading us to a conclusion, that it does not cross the skin barrier in a significant amount. We noticed a slight but statistically insignificant increase in permeability when oleic acid was present in the donor medium.
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