Evaluation of skin phototoxicity of transdermally administered pharmaceuticals in Sprague-Dawley rats

Abstract

Some drugs cause phototoxicity in humans when exposed to light, thus there is a need for an in vivo phototoxicity test to evaluate them. However, an in vivo phototoxicity test method to evaluate this has not been established. This study aimed to establish an in vivo phototoxicity test method for transdermally administered drugs. For this, we evaluated the phototoxicity using Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats for transdermal administered drugs and we studied the appropriate UVA dose using 8-methoxypsalen, which is a well-known phototoxic drug. We found that a UVA dose of 15 J/cm2 was dose and time dependent response compared to other UVA doses. We performed the Minimum Erythema Dose (MED) test because UVB can cause skin irritation by itself and selected 0.01 J/cm2 as an appropriate dose of UVB. Using the selected UVA and UVB doses, we performed a phototoxicity study of 6 pharmaceutical drugs, which included phototoxic and non-phototoxic drugs. As a result of the phototoxicity test, 100% accuracy was obtained when compared with previous studies. In addition, we performed histopathology to confirm the new findings. We found that histopathology can be used as an additional indicator of phototoxicity test for transdermally administered drugs.

Red Ginseng Oil Attenuates Oxidative Stress and Offers Protection against Ultraviolet‐Induced Photo Toxicity

“…APAP induces oxidative stress that can attack cell organelles, damage the cell membrane, induce lipid peroxidation, and ultimately result in liver injury [ 20 ]. Furthermore, high-energy visible and ultraviolet (UVA specifically) light have high energy and cause strong phototoxic reaction [ 21 , 22 ]. The phototoxic reaction is primarily induced by exposure of photoreactive chemicals to UV light, and these chemically activated compounds are responsible for the formation of ROS/free radicals [ 23 ].…”

“…The phototoxic reaction is primarily induced by exposure of photoreactive chemicals to UV light, and these chemically activated compounds are responsible for the formation of ROS/free radicals [ 23 ]. Hence, UV can damage the skin cells, which may lead to aging and cause itchiness, wrinkles, pigmentation, erythema, and eschar formation [ 21 , 22 ].…”