Abstract
So far, pentazocine iontophoresis has never
been studied, although pentazocine is widely
used in pain management. The purpose of this
study was to determine whether pentazocine
transportation through a cellophane membrane
could be enhanced using square-wave alternating
current (AC) iontophoresis with an adjusted duty
cycle and dependence on the voltage and the duty
cycle. Voltages of 10, 25 and 40 V with duty cycles
of 50%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54% and 55% were
applied for 60 minutes at a high frequency of 1 MHz
to diffusion cells on both sides of a cellophane
membrane. The donor compartment was filled
with a solution containing pentazocine. Squarewave
AC iontophoresis with an adjusted duty
cycle enhanced pentazocine transportation at
higher voltages and duty cycles. These results
suggested that the direct current (DC) component
of the square-wave AC played an important role in
enhancing pentazocine transportation despite
changes in polarity at very high frequency of
1MHz. The higher voltages and duty cycles
induced a pH change. The practical electrical conditions
that could be applied clinically were 25 V
with a 54% duty cycle or 40 V with a 53% duty
cycle.
