NONINVASIVE SAMPLING OF LACTIC-ACID IONS BY IONTOPHORESIS USING CHLORIDE-ION IN THE BODY AS AN INTERNAL STANDARD

Non-invasive sampling of lactic acid, as a model endogenous compound, through hairless rat skin by iontophoresis was investigated using a two-chamber iontophoretic diffusion cell equipped with platinum electrodes and a pulse depolarization iontophoretic system. Chloride ion in the body was used as an internal standard. First, an in vitro experiment on the permeation of lactate and chloride ions through hairless rat skin was carried out to determine the flux ratio of these ions. The cathode side of the cell (dermis side) was filled with physiological saline containing lactic acid (0.5556, 1.111, 1.667 or 2.222 mmol cm-3) and the anode side (epidermis side) with phosphate buffer (pH 7.4). The amount of lactate and chloride ion permeated from the dermis side to the epidermis side through the skin at a constant current of 3.0 mA was determined using an automatic lactic acid analyser and high-performance ion chromatography, respectively. For construction of a calibration curve of lactic acid in the dermis side, the ionic mobility ratio of lactic acid/chloride ion (U(Cl)/U(lac)) was determined using a computer simulation program from the flux ratio of lactic acid and chloride ion and the applied concentration of lactic acid in the dermis side. Second, an in vitro non-invasive sampling experiment of lactic acid through Tat skin was carried out at a constant current of 2.0 or 3.0 mA and 2.222 or 1.111 mmol cm-3 of lactic acid in the dermis side, respectively. The lactic acid concentration calculated from the flux ratio of lactate and chloride in this experiment reflected the applied concentration of lactic acid in the dermis side in spite of different applied currents. Non-invasive sampling of endogenous ion by iontophoresis using chloride ion as an internal standard reflected the concentration of endogenous ion in spite of changes in applied current and/or skin resistance.