A. Demanuele et Jn. Staniforth, AN ELECTRICALLY MODULATED DRUG DELIVERY DEVICE .3. FACTORS AFFECTING DRUG STABILITY DURING ELECTROPHORESIS, Pharmaceutical research, 9(3), 1992, pp. 312-315
A number of factors affecting the stability of propranolol HCl during
electrophoretic control were investigated. It was found that significa
nt degradation of propranolol HCl and hydrolysis of water occurred whe
n a current of 15 mA was used with platinized electrodes. This degrada
tion was thought to be due to decomposition of propranolol HCl at the
electrodes. Degradation could be significantly reduced by using uncoat
ed platinum electrodes and currents in the range of 0 to 2.5 mA, while
still allowing control of drug delivery rates. Electrode reaction pro
cesses were found at high ionic strengths and high drug concentrations
but were not thought to be associated with drug decomposition.