PAMPA (
parallel
artificial
membrane
permeability
assay) is a method which determines the permeability of substances from a donor compartment, through a
lipid-infused artificial membrane into an acceptor compartment. A multi-well microtitre plate is used for the donor and a membrane/acceptor compartment is placed on top; the whole assembly is commonly referred to as a “sandwich”. At the beginning of the test, the drug is added to the donor compartment, and the acceptor compartment is drug-free. After an incubation period which may include stirring, the sandwich is separated and the amount of drug is measured in each compartment. Mass balance allows calculation of drug that remains in the membrane. To date, PAMPA models have been developed that exhibit a high degree of correlation with permeation across a variety of barriers, including
Caco-2 cultures, the
gastrointestinal tract,
blood–brain barrier and skin.