in an especially preferred embodiment of the invention the transdermal preparation contains ethanol and water in addition to drospirenone . the effective ingredient drospirenone ( drsp ) is present completely dissolved initially . an ethanol content of at least 60 % ( m / m ), especially preferably even at least 65 % ( m / m ) is provided in the gel in order to guarantee a suitable solubility of drsp of preferably 0 . 2 to 2 % ( m / m ), especially preferably of 0 . 5 to 1 % ( m / m ). gel formers from the cellulose derivative group , especially hydroxymethyl cellulose , hydroxyethyl cellulose or hydroxypropyl cellulose , come into consideration besides the ionic gel formers based on polyacrylic acid ( carbomers or carbopols , such as carbopol 940 , 941 or 980 ) because of the high content of alcohol . permeation accelerators , lubricating agents and antioxidants come into consideration as additional additives . in order to facilitate the super - saturation of the system according to the invention in drospirenone ( drsp ), use of a group of low - molecular weight auxiliary substances is preferred . these auxiliary substances have a good solvating power for drsp , and also either escape by high volatility or by an especially good skin permeability under application conditions , whereby the preparation becomes super - saturated in drsp . furthermore these auxiliary substances have a good toxicological compatibility during application on the skin . preferred auxiliary substances are selected from the group consisting of ethanol , isopropanol ( 2 - propanol ), 1 , 2 - propandiol ( propylene glycol ), dipropylene glycol , 1 , 3 - butandiol , diethylene glycol monomethyl ether , diethylene glycol monoethyl ether , propylene carbonate and isopropylidene glycerol and monoterpene ingredients of etheric oils . these solvating agents for drsp escaping from the transderaml preparation by evaporation or transdermal absorption can if required be combined with one or more co - solvents , which are easily either evaporated or absorbed by the skin . reservoir - type transdermal systems are another preferred embodiment of the present invention . they have the same preferred and optional ingredients as described above for the transdermal gel preparations . the manufacture of the reservoir systems and their filling can take place according to the state of the art and is well known to those skilled in the art . the super - saturation factors for semisolid gels , lotions , foams and sprays , which occur during application of the preparations , are determined according to the following procedures . the determinations of the solubility of drospirenone in these preparations or in the residue produced by drying are performed on a semi - theoretical basis to simplify the experimentation and especially the analytical testing process . the semi - theoretical starting point is that only the liquid ingredients of the formulation are called upon for these considerations . the amount of gel - forming or film - forming or thickening polymers in the preparation is negligible in the case of gels , lotions and sprays . however these polymeric ingredients frequently influence analytical processing of these samples . a test solution comprising the liquid ingredients alone is called upon as a substitute for the above - described transdermal preparation within the scope of the present invention . in specific the following mixture was tested as a substitute or representative of the formulation of the example 2 provided hereinbelow for the above - described purposes : parts ( m / m ) isopropyl myristate 1 . 00 pure water 23 . 55 * ethanol 96 % 73 . 50 * sum of 20 . 00 g water plus 3 . 55 g of water that would be present from the 3 . 70 g of 0 . 1 n naoh used in example 2 . naoh itself is not included , since it is significant only when the polymer ingredients are present and it would provide a strongly alkaline reacting medium . the determination of the solubility of drospirenone in the test solution prior to drying is performed as follows : about 10 g test solution , exactly weight out , is mixed with drospirenone with stirring by a magnetic stirring device , until a clearly visible precipitate or sediment occurs . this solution is stirred for at least 24 hours further . if the precipitate is not visible after the 24 hours stirring , more drospirenone is added and the process is repeated . after finishing the stirring process about 1 . 0 ml test solution is removed and transferred into a 1 . 5 ml auto - sampler container with a screwed on cover . the sample is subsequently centrifuged for 10 minutes at at least 3000 g in this container , in order to precipitate any remaining undissolved drospirenone in the sample . the concentration of drospirenone is then measured with a suitable hplc method in an aliquot of the obtained supernatant liquid . the measured value of the saturation solubility of the drospirenone in the test mixture obtained prior to drying in this way is expressed as drsp s1 in mg / ml . for the preparations according to the invention the conditional drsp init is less than drsp s1 , wherein drsp init is the initial concentration of the drospirenone in the preparation prior to application and drying . the determination of the solubility of drospirenone in the liquid test mixture after drying occurs as follows : the test solution is spread in a layer with a thickness of about 50 μm on a flat inert carrier or support and is allowed to dry at about 32 ° c . ( skin surface temperature ) under ambient conditions for a definite time . the time interval for drying depends on the application duration . for a one - time one - day application it corresponds to 24 hours . it can also be a shorter time , when the degree of drying should be determined for a shorter time than the application time . the layer thickness of 50 μm is defined as the standard layer thickness for transdermal application of gels , lotions or sprays for the current applications of this invention . in the case of commercial testogels e . g . 5 ml of the gel is applied to the upper arm . a theoretical application area of about 90 cm 2 ( given a gel density of about 0 . 9 g / cm 3 ) results with the defined standard layer thickness of 50 μm . in the case of the above - described test example about 4 . 36 g of test solution is exactly weighed out ( weight = g p1 ) and spread out in a tared petri dish with a 10 cm diameter ( corresponds to 78 . 53 cm 2 ) so that a layer thickness of about 50 μm results . this starting material is allowed to dry at about 32 ° c . for a time interval of 24 hours on a hot plate ( corresponds to a one time daily application ). the amount of test solution and diameter of the dish is exemplary and non - limiting . the amount can be varied within the above - described description of the invention . the test mixture is not mechanically moved or mixed during testing but may rest quietly . there is no special air circulation over the test sample . at the test end the weight of the dried residue from the test solution is determined ( weight = g p2 ). from the obtained values the drying factor f e for the test solution is calculated according to equation ( 1 ): about 250 . 0 g of test solution ( exactly weighed out — weight g r1 ) with the composition prior to drying are present in a tared 500 ml wide - mouth flask . subsequently this starting material is evaporated in a rotary evaporator at about 32 ° c . under low pressure , until the remaining quantity of the preparation is in the same weight ratio relationship to the initial amount , as was found for the drying in the petri dish over the time interval , until the amount remaining in the flask ( weight = g r2 ) fit the following equation ( 2 ): the increased starting sample of the test solution in the rotary evaporator is used to obtain a sufficiently large residual amount for the subsequent determination of the solubility of drospirenone . it is again processed at about 32 ° c . in order to reproduce the evaporation conditions on the skin qualitatively with as little adulteration as possible , but quantitatively more rapidly . 1 . 0 g is taken from the finally obtained residual amount in the flask and transferred into a 1 . 5 ml auto - sampler container with a screw cover . 100 mg drospirenone are added to this residual amount . subsequently this starting material is treated with ultrasonic waves for an hour . after that the sample remain under ambient conditions for 24 hours . the sample is subsequently centrifuged for 10 minutes at at least 3000 g , in order to precipitate undissolved drospirenone to the bottom of the sample . the concentration of drospirenone in an aliquot of the supernatant is then determined with a suitale hplc method . the obtained value corresponds to the saturation solubility of drospirenone in the dried test solution , drsp s2 in mg / ml . in the case that less than 1 gram can be taken from the residual amount in the flask , typically with f e & gt ; 200 , the starting material in the rotary evaporator can be correspondingly increased or the subsequent determination is reduced , for example to 50 mg drospirenone in 0 . 5 g dried test solution . the super - saturation factor f ss relates to drospirenone in the test solution is calculated according to equation ( 3 ) below during the drying : wherein the initial concentration of drospirenone in the preparation is given as drsp init [ mg / ml ]. reference is made to the super - saturation factor f ss in the claims of this patent application . a value for f ss of 5 means , for example , that the saturation solubility of drospirenone during usage of the preparation is exceeded by about a factor of five . in reservoir - type transdermal patches the solubility of drospirenone in the formulation of the effective ingredient reservoir is considered . a semi - theoretical starting point is again used . a test solution consisting of only the liquid ingredients , which represents the actual semisolid reservoir preparation , is tested . the saturation solubility in the reservoir preparation is determined on this basis analogous to the determination of drsp s1 in mg / ml in gels , lotions and sprays ( s . o .). the drying factor f e is a step here in the determination of the concentration factor f c , since the reservoir dries by transdermal permeation of liquid ingredients . the effective surface of the reservoir system is covered with this foil and the reservoir system is weighed in this arrangement ( g rs1 ). after that the reservoir system is exposed to pure water as acceptor liquid for a predetermined time interval at a temperature of 32 ° c . the predetermined time interval amounts to 24 hours for a system for a single daily application . after that the system is weighed ( g rs2 ). the drying factor fe in the reservoir preparation determined from the measured weight loss is given by equation ( 4 ): f e = g rf /{ g rf −( g rs1 − g rs2 )} ( 4 ), wherein g rf is the weight in the effective ingredient containing reservoir formulation contained prior to the test in the reservoir system . the determination of the saturation solubility of drospirenone in the concentrated reservoir formulation ( drsp s2 ) and the super saturation factor f ss are performed analogously to the embodiments in the form of gels , lotions and sprays with equation 1 , but wherein f c replaces f e . the objects , features and advantages of the invention will now be illustrated in more detail with the aid of the following description of the examples of the preparation according to the invention , with reference to the accompanying figures in which : fig1 is a graphical illustration showing the dependence of average permeation values of testosterone and drospirenone as a function of time after application of the transdermal preparation of example 1 according to the invention to bare mouse skin ; and fig2 is a graphical illustration showing the dependence of average permeation values of testosterone and drospirenone as a function of time after application of the transdermal preparation of example 1 according to the invention to human skin . the following examples serve to further illustrate the claimed invention , but their details should not be considered as limiting the appended claims . the drospirenone is mixed directly with commercially obtained testogel ® and completely dissolved in it . the testogel ® corresponds in its composition to androgel ®. these compositions , which were given in table 5 of u . s . pat . no . 6 , 503 , 894 , are described as follows : the preparation is made in a manner that is known to those skilled in the art by dissolving all ingredients and subsequent neutralization of the gel former with dilute sodium hydroxide , so that the gel formation sets in . isopropyl myristate serves as a lubricating agent for the skin . the super - saturation in drospirenone occurs during application by evaporation of ethanol . the preparation is made in a manner that is known to those skilled in the art by adding the gel former methyl cellulose to alcohol and water and subsequently adding the auxiliary and effective ingredient . ethyl oleate acts as a permeation accelerator . the super - saturation in drospirenone occurs during application by evaporation of ethanol . the protective foil is removed from the above - described exactly weighed out androderm ® patch . the contents of the now open membrane evaporate or escape under room conditions until about 180 mg are evaporated . this pre - treatment is required in order to provide sufficient room in the reservoir for the above - described added drsp solution . 100 mg of drospirenone are dissolved in 4 ml of ethanol 96 % under action of ultrasound . about 500 μl of this solution are drawn into a 1 ml one - time use or disposable syringe with a connected steel hollow needle ( 0 . 90 × 40 mm ). the syringe is inserted into the reservoir and about 200 μl of this solution are injected with it . this is possible by cutting or punching in an additional air hole at the point , at which an air bubble is found in the semisolid reservoir . after that both air holes are sealed with a piece of teas - film . the reservoir contents are mixed by careful kneading with the fingers for a few minutes . until the experimental use the system is equilibrated at least 24 hours under room conditions . the super - saturation of drospirenone occurs during application of the system substantially by the transdermal resorption of ethanol , which occurs substantially faster than that of drospirenone . the supersaturation in drospirenone occurs during application substantially by evaporation of ethanol . the dimethyl ether acts as propellant for the spray . permeation of mouse skin by drsp from the preparation of example 1 200 mg of the preparation made according to example 1 were applied to bare mouse skin , which were fixed in modified franz permeation cells as a permeation membrane . the results for the average permeation values for testosterone and drospirenone in μg / cm 2 versus time after application are shown in fig1 . the average values are the average of seven experimental runs . the mouse skin used was hairless mouse skin , hsdcpb nmri - nu / nu , harlan bioservice , walsrode . potassium chloride 0 . 6 g potassium hydrogen phosphate 0 . 09 g sodium chloride 10 . 905 g sodium hydrogen phosphate dehydrate 0 . 09 g hepes 8 . 94 g gentamicine sulfate 0 . 075 g γ - cyclodextrin 7 . 5 g aqua purificata to 1500 g at 3 , 6 , 9 , 12 , 15 and 18 hours samples of 100 μl were removed by an automatic sampling system from the acceptor medium of the franz cells and injected into an hplc automatic analyzer . column : lichrosphere 100 rp 18 , 5 μm , 125 × 3 mm mobile phase : acetonitrile / h 2 o ( 40 / 60 ) flow rate : 1 ml / min temperature : 40 ° c . injected volume : 100 μl detection wavelength ( uv ): 244 nm ( testosterone ), 261 nm ( drsp ) the filled - in circles indicate the measured permeation values for testosterone in fig1 . the filled - in squares indicate the permeation values for drospirenone . the vertical lines on the circles and squares are error bars indicating the experimental error . thus fig1 clearly shows that the permeation values for testosterone are larger than those for drospirenone . the preparation from example 1 was tested on human skin ( female belly skin from cosmetic reduction , dermatomized at a layer thickness of about 450 μm ). the skin permeation values or mass transport amount for drospirenone and testosterone as a function of time after application of the preparation to the skin are shown in fig2 . the open squares indicate the measured permeation values for testosterone in fig1 . the open circles indicate the permeation values for drospirenone . the vertical lines on the circles and squares are error bars indicating the experimental error . this permeation data for human skin is also tabulated in the following table i and ii . table i permeation of testosterone from the preparation of example 1 through human skin mean cumulative time , h transport , μg / cm 2 standard deviation , sd rsd , %* 0 0 . 00 0 . 00 0 3 3 . 62 1 . 24 34 7 7 . 72 2 . 21 29 10 10 . 70 2 . 31 22 24 26 . 57 6 . 72 25 30 33 . 31 7 . 06 21 48 44 . 35 10 . 03 23 * rsd , % = ( sd / mean ) × 100 . 0 the foregoing permeation data shows that the permeation values for drospirenone ( drsp ) are still about 40 % of those of testosterone at the given times after application of the preparation to the skin . since testogel ® permits administration of 5 to 10 mg per day , then about 3 to 5 mg / d of drospirenone can be administered in this form by a transdermal method or patch . thus the transdermal administration of an effective amount of drsp for contraceptive purposes is possible . while the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in drospirenone - containing preparations for transdermal use , it is not intended to be limited to the details shown , since various modifications and changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention . without further analysis , the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can , by applying current knowledge , readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that , from the standpoint of prior art , fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention . what is claimed is new and is set forth in the following appended claims .
the pharmaceutical preparation for transdermal administration contains solvent ingredients , such as water and ethanol and / or propanol , and drospirenone . the drospirenone is contained in the preparation in an amount that is not above its saturation solubility in an initial state prior to application to skin . however after application to the skin the amount of drospirenone exceeds its saturation solubility due to escape or discharge of the solvent ingredients from the preparation . preferably the saturation solubility is exceeded by at least a factor of five during application to the skin . the pharmaceutical preparation can also contain an estrogen , such as ethinyl estradiol . it can be in the form of a semi - solid or liquid preparation that is contained in a reservoir - type transdermal patch . a transdermal patch for contraception containing the pharmaceutical preparation including drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol is also disclosed .