Unsaturated glycerol monoethers as novel skin penetration enhancers

A mixture of glycerol monoethers was extracted from the liver oil of deep sea shark (Centroporus squamosus). It consisted mainly of monoethers of glycerol and linear monounsaturated octadecanol, and glycerol and linear monounsaturated hexadecanol. Only about 11% of the extract consisted of glycerol monoethers derived from linear saturated fatty alcohols. The glycerol monoether extract was somewhat less effective as skin penetration enhancer than oleic acid and other potent fatty acid penetration enhancers, but it was still a very effective enhancer in the hairless mouse skin model used in this study.