Absolute bioavailability of oral immediate and slow release fluphenazine in healthy volunteers.

OBJECTIVE

The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the absolute bioavailability of fluphenazine in healthy volunteers after administration of immediate and slow release oral formulations.

METHODS

The oral dose was 12 mg fluphenazine hydrochloride. The intravenous bolus dose was 2.5 mg. Fourteen healthy volunteers of both sexes were enrolled in this randomised, crossover trial. Twelve volunteers completed the trial according to protocol.

RESULTS

The concentration maxima after administration of the slow release formulation were approximately half those measured after the immediate release formulation and were recorded later by a factor of 2 (immediate release: Cmax = 2.3 ng.ml-1, tmax = 2.8 h; slow release: Cmax = 1.2 ng.ml-1, tmax = 4.6 h). The concentrations measured 10 min after intravenous bolus administration of 2.5 mg fluphenazine hydrochloride were approximately 100 times higher (261 ng.ml-1). The geometric means for the absolute bioavailability of fluphenazine were 2.7% for the immediate release formulation and 3.4% for the slow release formulation. The absolute bioavailability of fluphenazine is thus much lower than previously generally accepted.