Pentazocine transport by square-wave AC iontophoresis with an adjusted duty cycle.

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. Square-wave 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 1 MHz. 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.