Human epidermal membrane constant conductance iontophoresis: alternating current to obtain reproducible enhanced permeation and reduced lag times of a nonionic polar permeant.

An experimental protocol, using an initial 1 min direct current (DC) applied potential of 4 V followed by alternating current (AC), was established to: (a) increase conductance and permeability and decrease lag time for human epidermal membrane (HEM) relative to unaltered HEM and; (b) maintain constant conductance and permeability during flux studies. The protocol allowed specific permeation parameters of the membrane to be characterized under electrically enhanced, constant flux conditions. The permeability, lag time, and effective membrane thickness were determined using a nonionic polar permeant, urea, while the enhanced conductance was maintained at a constant level with AC. A tortuous pore pathway model was employed to analyze the data. The AC protocol increased membrane permeability, and decreased lag time and effective membrane thickness relative to similar parameters obtained in previous studies from unaltered HEM. Lag times ranged from 32.0 to 105.5 min, and permeability coefficients calculated from steady state fluxes ranged from 1.68 to 6.03x10(-7) cm/s for HEM samples with electrical resistance values during transport of 2.3-8.0 kOmega x cm2. Effective membrane thicknesses were calculated to range from 0.34 to 0.61 cm during AC iontophoresis. Significant additional results were obtained when the protocol was applied for two consecutive runs using the same HEM sample, with time for the HEM sample to recover between runs. During the second run, the applied potential was adjusted to reproduce the conductance obtained on the first run. Under these conditions, the consecutive runs yielded essentially the same lag time, permeability and effective membrane thickness values. These results suggest that constant fluxes can be achieved by keeping HEM electrical conductance constant during AC iontophoresis.