利用二氧化碳雷射促進4-n-丁基間苯二酚之經皮吸收

4-n-butylresorcinol is a commonly used compound for melanin production and skin whitening. However, there is currently limited research on the percutaneous delivery of this substance. This study used CO2 lasers to exfoliate the stratum corneum that limited skin absorption and examined if this device can effectively increase transdermal administration of 4-n-butylresorcinol. The most suitable laser energy that has the least adverse effect on the skin was also identified in this study. The skin was pretreated with the lasers set at different energy levels, and the penetration concentration of 4-n-butylresorcinol was analyzed at six fixed time points using a transdermal delivery device. The flux and enhancement ratio (ER) was calculated to compare the transdermal delivery abilities of different laser treatments. The histologic and ultrastructural changes of the skin treated using the lasers were examined using transmission electron microscopy. The enhancement ratio of 4-n-butylresorcinol across CO2 laser-treated porcine skin was 64-99- fold higher than the fluxes of these compounds across intact skin. This study confirmed that lasers can remove the stratum corneum, which may promote transdermal delivery. The overall findings revealed that CO2 laser treatment, with an optimal laser energy of 7W, significantly improves the transdermal administration of 4-n-butylresorcinol.

4-n-丁基間苯二酚常被用於抑制黑色素的產生及作為美白產品的成分，然而目前針對此物質的有關經皮吸收(transdermal delivery)的研究較少，因此本計畫旨在使用二氧化碳雷射剝離阻礙皮膚吸收的角質層，並證實是否能有效提升4-n-丁基間苯二酚的經皮吸收能力，同時找出對皮膚影響最小的最佳雷射能量。首先將以不同能量的雷射前處理試驗皮膚，並分析4-n-丁基間苯二酚之六個時間點的穿透濃度，之後計算其穿透速率(flux)及促進倍率(enhancement ratio, ER)，來比較不同雷射能量促進試驗藥物經皮吸收能力之影響。皮膚經由二氧化碳雷射處理後，利用穿透式電子顯微鏡( transmission electron microscope, TEM)來觀察試驗皮膚組織學上的變化。結果顯示，相較於未處理的皮膚，經由二氧化碳雷射處理的組別其4-n-丁基間苯二酚的促進倍率為64~99倍。二氧化碳雷射會去除皮膚的角質層，可能是增加4-n-丁基間苯二酚的穿透能力的因素之一。本研究證實，二氧化碳雷射可顯著提升4-n-丁基間苯二酚經皮吸收能力，而最適雷射能量設定值為7瓦。