Transdermal iontophoresis of salmon calcitonin can reproduce the hypocalcemic effect of intravenous administration.

Salmon calcitonin (sCt) was administered by transdermal iontophoresis in rabbits, using a new drug reservoir assembled directly on the skin, based on a dry disc containing sCt to be dissolved at the application site. The hypocalcemic effect was taken as a measure of the pharmacodynamic response. In rabbits, the results obtained show that salmon calcitonin skin penetration by iontophoresis, using pulsatile current of 0.8 mA/cm2 on a reservoir containing 100 IU/Kg of sCt, was governed by the quantity of electric charge applied, mimicking the hypocalcemic response of 10 IU/Kg intravenous administration.