OBJECTIVE： To compare in vitro percutaneous permeation characteristics of glycyrrhizic acid in 6 kinds of glycyrrhetate creams， and to provide reference for further development and utilization.  METHODS： Modified Franz diffusion cell and isolated rat skin were adopted for in vitro percutaneous permeation test. 24 h accumulative permeation of glycyrrhizic acid in 6 kinds of glycyrrhetate creams （monoammonium glycyrrhizinate， diammonium glycyrrhizinate， monopotassium glycyrrhizinate， dipotassium glycyrrhizate， trisodium glycyrrhizinate， disodium glycyrrhetate） were determined by HPLC. The permeation characteristics of 6 kinds of glycyrrhetate creams were evaluated by calculating percutaneous absorption rate. RESULTS： 24 h accumulative permeation of 6 kinds of glycyrrhetate in rat skin in descending order was as follows： trisodium glycyrrhizinate （23.933 μg/cm2）＞dipotassium glycyrrhizinate （22.952 μg/cm2）＞disodium glycyrrhizinate （15.424 μg/cm2）＞monopotassium glycyrrhizinate （10.703 μg/cm2）＞diammonium glycyrrhizinate （9.557 μg/cm2）＞monoammonium glycyrrhizinate （1.621 μg/cm2）. The percutaneous permeation rate in descending order was as follows as trisodium glycyrrhizinate [1.010 2 μg/（cm2·h）]＞dipotassium glycyrrhizinate [0.974 5 μg/（cm2·h）]＞disodium glycyrrhizinate [0.641 2 μg/（cm2·h）]＞diammonium glycyrrhizinate [0.399 9 μg/（cm2·h）]＞monopotassium glycyrrhizinate [0.362 8 μg/（cm2·h）]＞monoammonium glycyrrhizinate [0.072 6 μg/（cm2·h）]. CONCLUSIONS： The permeation rate of trisodium glycyrrhizinate is the highest among 6 kinds of glycyrrhetate creams in vitro.