On iontophoretic delivery enhancement: Ionization and mobility of lidocaine hydrochloride in propylene glycol

Improvements of conductivity measurements of electrolyte solutions using a new conductometric cell design

A new conductometric cell design, for precise conductance measurements, has been developed and tested using aqueous lidocaine hydrochloride as a model system. A small portion of a stock solution in the conductivity cell is diluted stepwise by pure solvent. The resistance of the cell is measured by means of a precision conductance bridge. Contrary to conventional technique in precision conductometry, the temperature is allowed to change during the measurements and corrected to the desired standard temperature. The temperature is determined using a thermistor immersed in the cell solution, which is agitated during the entire experiment. Using this new approach, significant improvements over conventional conductivity technique were observed. The time required for the measurements was considerably reduced, by a factor of at least ten. The amounts, especially of costly drugs, required in the measurements are also reduced. The pK(a) value obtained, 7.28, is close to the previously reported conductometrically determined average, 7.18. The precision of the single conductivity value is equally high, if not higher, as that obtained using conventional conductivity technique.

On iontophoretic delivery enhancement: ionization and transport properties of lidocaine hydrochloride in aqueous propylene glycol

The ionization and transport properties of lidocaine hydrochloride (LidHCl) in aqueous propylene glycol (PG) containing 20% PG by weight was studied by means of electrical precision conductometry. For drug concentrations exceeding about 1.7 mM a slight formation of LidH(+)Cl(-) ion-pairs is indicated; ion-pair association constant, K(p)=1.73 (molar scale). A two variable analysis of the experimental data yielded K(a)=1.5x10(-8) for the acid dissociation constant of LidH(+), i.e. pK(a)=7.82, and the limiting ionic conductivity, lambda(o)(LidH(+))=21.73 cm(2) S mol(-1). To enable evaluation of single ion conductivities the proton transport number of HCl in the present solvent mixture was determined using the moving boundary method.

The dermal delivery of lignocaine: influence of ion pairing

The purpose of the present study was to determine the significance of ion pairing on the permeation of lignocaine. Results of diffusion studies through polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) at different pH values 4. 0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0 indicated that lignocaine hydrochloride (L-HCl) flux significantly increased with the amount of unionized base. In order to see if similar results could be obtained using human skin, permeation runs were performed with human skin at pH of 4.0, 5.5 and 7.0. These values were chosen to simulate an appropriate range of physiological conditions. Results of the experiments with human epidermis showed increasing L-HCl flux with increasing pH, confirming the trends seen with PDMS membranes. A linear relationship was found between the apparent partition coefficient and the steady state flux. Further experiments were conducted at donor pH 4.0 to minimise the contribution of the unionized species. Although an excess of different ions such as nitrate, mesylate and bromide increased the apparent partition coefficient, the steady state flux was not significantly increased. The steady state lignocaine flux was increased up to 2.45-fold using different counter ions. The highest flux was measured from lignocaine morpholinopropane sulfonate (L-mps). It is possible to enhance the flux of salts across lipophilic membranes by using an ion pair approach. The degree to which this is possible depends on the lipophilicity of the counter ion, the medium in which the ion pair forms, and the ionic strength.