Poor skin permeability limits the application of peptides to the skin. Enhanced skin permeation could facilitate the development of new therapies for dermatologic and cosmeceutical applications. The aim of this study was to investigate the application of iontophoresis to the delivery of small peptide model compounds (5-aminolevulinic acid and L-alanine-L-tryptophan) across human skin. Under the conditions tested, iontophoresis increased the in vitro permeability coefficient of ALA.HCl across human epidermis from 7 X 10(-5) cm/h with passive diffusion to 110 x 10(-5) cm/h with iontophoresis. D-Glucose permeation elucidated the iontophoretic electrotransport of ALA.HCl to have contributions of both electrorepulsion and electroosmosis. The L-alanine-L-tryptophan permeability coefficient was increased from 1.5 x 10(-5) cm/h to 35 x 10(-5) cm/h with iontophoretic application. Iontophoretic delivery of the dipeptide increased markedly at lower pH because of an increase in electrorepulsive transport. The study demonstrates that iontophoresis can enhance epidermal permeation of a small peptide and peptide-like drug by up to 15- and 22-fold under the conditions tested.