Correlation study of in vitro and in vivo test for SPF (Sun Protection Factor)

In this study, we evaluate the correlation between in vitro and in vivo determination of SPF of sunscreen products containing various ingredients depending on emulsification system. For in vitro approach, we determined SPF by the method of Diffey and Robson using an TransporeTM tape(3M Health care, USA) and SPF 290-analyzer(Optometrics Co. USA). SPF values and standard deviations are calculated and displayed after completion of the run. In vivo SPF values are determined according to KFDA (the Korea Food and Drug Administration) method in panels of Fitzpatrick's skin type II or III. We investigated the difference in SPF data of sunscreen ingredient according to emulsification system. The in vivo SPF data is high in water-in oil(W/O) emulsion than in oil-in water(O/W) emulsion samples. The difference may be due to the particular behavior in each vehicles and its presence on skin surface may produce a different sunscreen film. We obtained the corrlation coefficient between in vitro and in vivo SPF data for O/W (R-squre=0.72 )and W/O emulsion(R-squre=0.77). From these results, we suggest the improvement of methodology using Transpore$^{TM}$ tape as substrate to increase the predictability of in vitro method.d.