Effects of ethanol and dexamethasone on epidermis examined by in vitro 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy

We recently reported on the pharmacodynamic effects of a glucocorticoid on perfused, intact, viable epidermis assessed by intracellular phosphorus metabolism with 31PNMR spectroscopy. We also have recently determined that perfusion with different transdermal-penetration-enhancing agents, such as ethanol, DMSO, and propyleneglycol, results in similar effects, which could be related with those previously observed. In the first studies, dexa-methasone was solved in low concentrations of ethanol before addition to the perfusion media (final concentration 0.1%, v/v). In the present experiments, we tested our original protocol to possibly distinguish these effects.This work was supported by grants PB91-0368 and PB92-0207 from DGICYT, Spain.Peer reviewe