Membrane transport of hydrocortisone acetate from supersaturated solutions; the role of polymers.

Permeation of hydrocortisone acetate (HA) from supersaturated solutions was studied across a model silicone membrane. Supersaturated solutions were prepared using the cosolvent technique with propylene glycol and water (or aqueous polymer solutions) as the cosolvents. In the absence of the polymer, the flux of HA was similar at all degrees of saturation and was not significantly different from the value obtained for a saturated solution. Flux enhancement, as a result of supersaturation, was observed with all the polymers. The flux increased with increasing polymer concentration, reached a maximum and decreased at higher polymer percentages. The amount of polymer required for maximum enhancement differed for each polymer. The decrease of flux at high polymer concentrations is attributed to changes in microviscosity and a marginal increase in solubility. The infrared spectroscopic and differential scanning calorimetry data suggest that HA-polymer interactions occurred through hydrogen bonding thus explaining the proposed mechanism of the anti-nucleant properties of the polymers.