Investigation of drug absorption from the gastrointestinal tract of man. I. Metoprolol in the stomach, duodenum and jejunum.

Gastrointestinal (GI) absorption of the beta-adrenoceptor blocker metoprolol was investigated in five healthy subjects by means of an intubation method, employing a triple-lumen tube introduced into the intestine, and a twin-lumen tube in the stomach. Metoprolol was introduced into the stomach with a homogenized meal containing a nonabsorbable marker, [14C]-PEG 4000, and another marker, PEG 4000, was perfused continuously into the duodenum just below the pylorus. Samples of GI contents were collected at regular intervals over 4 h in the stomach and at two different levels in the upper small intestine. Metoprolol was not absorbed from the stomach. Approximately 60% of the amount of drug emptied from the stomach was absorbed from the duodenum; about 50% of that leaving the duodenum was absorbed from the first part of the jejunum. The delivery process was the rate-limiting factor of metoprolol absorption in these segments of the gut. Plasma concentrations reflected drug loss from the lumen and were higher in subjects exhibiting faster gastric emptying and higher absorption rates in the duodenum and jejunum. The intubation technique appeared to be a suitable method for investigating drug absorption from the GI tract in man.