Use of electroporation and reverse iontophoresis for extraction of transdermal multibiomarkers

Congo Tak-Shing Ching^1,2, Lin-Shien Fu^3-5, Tai-Ping Sun¹, Tzu-Hsiang Hsu¹, Kang-Ming Chang^2
1Department of Electrical Engineering, National Chi Nan University, Puli, Nantou County, ²Department of Photonics and Communication Engineering, Asia University, Wufeng, Taichung, ³Department of Pediatrics, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, ⁴Institute of Technology, National Chi Nan University, Puli, ⁵Department of Pediatrics, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung City, Taiwan

Background: Monitoring of biomarkers, like urea, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and osteopontin, is very important because they are related to kidney disease, prostate cancer, and ovarian cancer, respectively. It is well known that reverse iontophoresis can enhance transdermal extraction of small molecules, and even large molecules if reverse iontophoresis is used together with electroporation. Electroporation is the use of a high-voltage electrical pulse to create nanochannels within the stratum corneum, temporarily and reversibly. Reverse iontophoresis is the use of a small current to facilitate both charged and uncharged molecule transportation across the skin. The objectives of this in vitro study were to determine whether PSA and osteopontin are extractable transdermally and noninvasively and whether urea, PSA, and osteopontin can be extracted simultaneously by electroporation and reverse iontophoresis.
Methods: All in vitro experiments were conducted using a diffusion cell assembled with the stratum corneum of porcine skin. Three different symmetrical biphasic direct currents (SBdc), five various electroporations, and a combination of the two techniques were applied to the diffusion cell via Ag/AgCl electrodes. The three different SBdc had the same current density of 0.3 mA/cm², but different phase durations of 0 (ie, no current, control group), 30, and 180 seconds. The five different electroporations had the same pulse width of 1 msec and number of pulses per second of 10, but different electric field strengths of 0 (ie, no voltage, control group), 74, 148, 296, and 592 V/cm. Before and after each extraction experiment, skin impedance was measured at 20 Hz.
Results: It was found that urea could be extracted transdermally using reverse iontophoresis alone, and further enhancement of extraction could be achieved by combined use of electroporation and reverse iontophoresis. Conversely, PSA and osteopontin were found to be extracted transdermally only by use of reverse iontophoresis and electroporation with a high electrical field strength (>296 V/cm). After application of reverse iontophoresis, electroporation, or a combination of the two techniques, a reduction in skin impedance was observed.
Conclusion: Simultaneous transdermal extraction of urea, PSA, and osteopontin is possible only for the condition of applying reverse iontophoresis in conjunction with high electroporation.

Keywords: electroporation, reverse iontophoresis, nanochannels, noninvasive, urea, prostate-specific antigen, osteopontin

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