Can Anyone Help?

[Tazzie]

Hi Geeks,

Can anyone explain to me what percutaneous absorbtion is please?

My text book is SOOOO confusing :irked: you would think i was doing a medical degree the way it is written x

Thanks

 

[joe90]

In simple terms it is a process by which noxious or therapeutic substances are passed through unbroken skin into the body.

Hope this simplifies things for you

 

[Tazzie]

In simple terms it is a process by which noxious or therapeutic substances are passed through unbroken skin into the body.

Hope this simplifies things for you

Thanks a lot. i have an exam in which i have to write 200 words about it and have come up with this, i was not in the class when she went over this part of skin science so if any one could let me know if i'm right or not i would really appreciate it xx:hug:

At the base of the stratum corneum there is a barrier that contains a negative charge. This is described as ionic. This barrier repels any substances that are negatively charged and prevents them from entering the dermis layer of the skin. One substance that can enter through this barrier is water, the reason for this is that a water molecule is both positively and negatively charged, this is described as being a polar molecule. Electrical equipment can be used to distort the barrier and push negatively charged substances through the epidermis into the dermis layer of the skin.

Percutaneous absorption is a passage of substance through the epidermis into the dermis and blood supply. Percutaneous absorption involves three chemical processes:

Diffusion – the movement of a chemical within a substance

Absorption - the invasion of the chemical into the various layers of the skin

Adsorption – is where the skin extracts certain chemicals it needs from the substances that it has absorbed.

Possible pathways for chemical absorption are

Hair follicles through which oil soluble chemicals can pass

Micro channels between the lipid layers in the stratum corneum through which water soluble chemicals can move

Sweat Glands that allow water soluble chemicals can move.

Lipid bilayers - of the stratum corneum through which water soluble chemicals can diffuse

Corneocytes - through which water soluble chemicals can diffuse.

In order to cross the barrier of the stratum corneum the chemical must transport itself through a ‘dry’ oily zone and then through a ‘wet’ oil zone.