A commonly used admixture of commercially available ointments and/or creams was selected from the prescribed sheets in our hospital, and questionnaire to dermatologists. To assess the relationship between permeability of corticosteroid through murine skin and clinical effects in human, we attempted to investigate the vasoconstrictor activity of these admixtures of topical corticosteroid by double-blind controlled study. Test samples were occluded at random on the back of 20 healthy volunteers for 4 hours. The vasoconstrictor activity of corticosteroid creams (Lidomex®) alone was significantly large as compared with that of ointments alone. The vasoconstrictor activity of corticosteroid in the admixture of Lidomex® ointment and urea ointments or heparinoid ointment was 1.5—2 fold significantly larger than that from ointments alone. The extent of the stability of the emulsion after mixing was related to the vasoconstrictor activity. These experiments demonstrated a close relationship between the vasoconstrictor activity of human skin and permeability of hairless mice skin. These results suggested that the vasoconstrictor activity of topical corticosteroids mixed with commercially available ointments and/or creams depends upon their physicochemical characteristics.
