Penetration and enrichment of flufenamic acid in calf skin from patients with stasis dermatitis.

Abstract

To investigate the hypothesis that the application of medicaments to skin from the lower leg of patients with stasis dermatitis might lead to their enhanced enrichment, compared with uninvolved skin from the same region, a penetration study was performed with flufenamic acid. In 5 patients with pronounced changes of chronic venous insufficiency and in 5 control patients without chronic venous insufficiency the flufenamic acid content in skin sections parallel to the surface was determined by HPLC. In chronic venous insufficiency-skin, the flufenamic acid concentration was higher in all skin levels compared to control skin. This enrichment of the substance could lead to a prolonged and more intense contact with antigen-presenting cells in this region, thus promoting the development of contact allergies observed so frequently in this pathologic condition.