PIG EAR SKIN AS AN INVITRO MODEL FOR HUMAN SKIN PERMEABILITY

Pig skin has been shown to have similar histological and physiological properties to human skin and has been suggested as a good model for human skin permeability. In this series of experiments, the in-vitro permeability of pig ear skin was compared with human (abdominal) skin and rat (dorsal) skin using both hydrophilic (water, mannitol. paraquat) and lipophilic (aldrin, carbaryl, fluazifop-butyl) penetrants. Pig skin was found to have a closer permeability character than rat skin to human skin, particularly for lipophilic penetrants. Electrical conductivity measurements across pig skin membranes showed that skin conductivity could be a useful method for assessing the integrity of membranes, particularly when used in conjunction with water permeability assessments.