Clozapine and Metabolite Concentrations during Treatment of Patients with Chronic Schizophrenia

Autor: Jean-Marie Kinowski, Claire Guitton, Pierre Chabrand, Mocrane Abbar, Françoise Bressolle
Rok vydání: 1999
Předmět:
Zdroj: The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 39:721-728
ISSN: 0091-2700
Popis: Results presented in this article are focused on the variability in pharmacokinetics. The purpose of this study was (1) to investigate intra- and interindividual variabilities of pharmacokinetic parameters of clozapine and its two main metabolites in plasma after multiple oral administration in 8 chronic schizophrenic patients (Study 1) and (2) to gain more information regarding plasma concentrations of these drugs after multiple doses in a group of 25 treatment-responsive patients (Study 2). Patients were treated with clozapine in fixed daily doses (given every 8-12 hours) between 200 and 900 mg. Plasma drug concentrations were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. The mean volume of distribution and the total plasma clearance of clozapine, uncorrected for bioavailability, were 7 L/kg and 40.5 L/h, respectively. The terminal elimination half-lives averaged 10.5 hours for clozapine, 19.2 hours for norclozapine, and 8.6 hours for the N-oxide metabolite. Significant relationships were observed between clozapine and norclozapine (or clozapine N-oxide) plasma concentrations. Large inter- and intrapatient variations in pharmacokinetics were observed. Clozapine was generally well tolerated by the patients, with sedation, hypersialorrhea, and tiredness as the most common side effects encountered.
Databáze: OpenAIRE