Iontophoretic transdermal delivery of haloperidol

The in vitro iontophoretic transdermal delivery of haloperidol (HP) across pig skin was investigated. Anodal iontophoresis considerably increased HP skin penetration and accumulation as compared to the passive controls. The effect of NaCl and HP concentrations on the vehicle were also studied. As expected, HP iontophoretic transport decreased with NaCl content. On the other hand, HP concentration did not modify its electrotransport in the range of concentrations between 0.4 and 0.9 mg/mL, except at 24 hours. The influence of the current density (0.20-0.50 mA/cm(2)) was also investigated. The iontophoretic transport of HP tends to increase with current density. On the whole, this work shows that iontophoresis may be used to improve the topical application of HP for the treatment of chronic psychosis.