Simultaneous controlled iontophoretic delivery of pramipexole and rasagiline in vitro and in vivo: Transdermal polypharmacy to treat Parkinson's disease.

[EN] Effective treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) involves administration of therapeutic agents with complementary mechanisms of action in order to replenish, sustain or substitute endogenous dopamine. The objective of this study was to investigate anodal co-iontophoresis of pramipexole (PRAM; dopamine agonist) and rasagiline (RAS; MAO-B inhibitor) in vitro and in vivo. Passive permeation of PRAM and RAS (20 mM each) across porcine skin after 6 h was 15.7 +/- 1.9 and 16.0 +/- 2.9 mu g/cm(2), respectively. Co-iontophoresis at 0.15, 0.3 and 0.5 mA/cm(2) resulted in statistically significant increases in delivery of PRAM and RAS; at 0.5 mA/cm(2), cumulative permeation of PRAM and RAS was 61…