In vitro effect of volatile oil of Herba Asari on the permeation of Rotundine through nude mouse skin

OBJECTIVE To investigate the enhancing effects of volatile oil of Herba Asari on the permeation of Rotundine through in vitro nude mouse skin and screen permeation enhancer from Traditional Chinese Medicine.METHODS A test of enhancing effect of 5% volatile oil of Herba Asari on the permeation of Rotundine was conducted by an improved method of Franz diffusion cells through nude mouse skin and compared with 5% azone.The content of Rotundine was measured by HPLC and the average cumulative doses for 24 hours and rate constants for 12 hours of skin permeation of Rotundine were calculated.RESULTS After adding 5% volatile oil of Herba Asari or 5% azone,the average cumulative doses of skin permeation of Rotundine(15 mg·ml-1) for 24 hours were 5722.78 and 4384.31 μg·cm-2,respectively;the rate constants of skin permeation for 12 hours were 284.29 and 223.18 μg·cm-2·h-1,respectively;and the multiple of anatonosis were 37.0934 and 29.1189 respectively.Compared with negative control,the contrast of rate constants of skin permeation was obviously significance.CONCLUSION 5% volatile oil of Herba Asari possesed the effects of the permeation enhancement on Rotundine in vitro,and exceeded 5% azone.