Skin histology of microwave modified skin for transdermal drug delivery / Muhammmad Najhan Md Bohari

The effect of microwave on rat skin histology for the application in transdermal drug delivery was examined. Four types of pectin (P) films and gels were prepared by dissolving the pectin powder with or without oleic acid (OA) in deionised water under continuous stirring at 25 ± 1°C for 15 h. The skin was treated with microwave from the direction of epidermis using high power (80w) for 15, 30 and 45s. Subsequently, the treated skin applied with pectin films or gels were subjected to the staining method by Harris Haematoxylin-Eosin (H&E) and Oil Red O (ORO) Stain Kit for histological examination. Analysis using the attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy demonstrated that there was no significant difference between the chemical structure of the untreated skin and skin treated by microwave for 15, 30 and 45s. No significant change was noticed in the case of microwave treated skin applied with P and P + OA films. Nevertheless, general observation demonstrated a higher cumulative OA concentration at the immediate surroundings of sebaceous glands in skin treated with microwave and applied with P + OA gel regardless of the irradiation time. The treatment of skin using microwave facilitated the penetration of OA from the pectin gel through the disordered lipid structure of stratum comeum. The freely soluble pectin in gel could probably aid the penetration of OA in comparison to the solid pectin film with entangled chains. Microwave was able to facilitate the penetration of oleic acid from pectin gel through the impermeable skin barrier without causing skin damage.