Is cortisone iontophoresis possible?

Iontophoresis (iontotherapy) is sometimes employed to permit epidermal medication. Corticosteroids have been recently one of the most frequently employed, although the literature reports no scientific study demonstrating its effectiveness. This work reports our experimentation on steroid iontophoresis both in vitro and in vivo, to determine whether steroids pass through the skin. Using paper electrophoresis, we first studied the electrophoretic mobility of six water-soluble corticosteroids commercially available in Switzerland. Then an experimental model with two cylinders, one containing a steroid solution and the other filled with buffer solution separated by human skins was submitted to ionization. The in-vivo experimentation consisted in a study of steroid iontotherapy in four rabbits and in 188 patients. Our in-vitro and in-vivo studies failed to demonstrate the transcutaneous migration of corticosteroids.