DEVELOPMENT OF A MODEL OF THE LIPID CONSTITUENT PHASE OF THE STRATUM-CORNEUM .2. PREPARATION OF ARTIFICIAL MEMBRANES FROM SYNTHETIC LIPIDS AND ASSESSMENT OF PERMEABILITY PROPERTIES USING INVITRO DIFFUSION EXPERIMENTS

This paper describes the development of model membranes from liposomes using commercially available synthetic lipids. The composition of the lipid mixture used to prepare the liposomes was based on earlier studies to optimize the strength of interlipid interactions within the bilayers. Model membranes were prepared by extruding liposomes through a membrane filter below the phase transition temperature of the lipid mixture. The resulting membrane filter, with the deposited lipids, was then dried and treated with calcium chloride to allow transformation of the liposomal bilayers into extended sheet structures. The treated membranes were dried and mounted on diffusion cells. A variety of markers was then used to test the permeability characteristics of the model membrane. The results suggest that the membrane prepared using synthetic lipids is a suitable model for permeation characteristics of skin.