Noninvasive assessment of local nicotinate pharmacodynamics by photoplethysmography.

The local pharmacodynamics of a topical vasodilator (methyl nicotinate) has been followed noninvasively using photopulse plethysmography. This technique is sensitive to changes in blood flow through the cutaneous microcirculation and responds to the pharmacologic stimulus of the vasoactive agent employed. Five different application sites for the drug were studied and the time course of the local effect (i.e., onset, duration, and decay) was recorded. The applied amount of drug elicited, within a short period, a response which was saturable such that the observed increase in blood flow reached a plateau level. The decay of the elevated perfusion required approximately 1 h, suggesting a half-life for elimination of the drug from the skin of about 10 min. This result agrees closely with other reported values and suggests that the pharmacodynamic measurements of this study may prove useful in elucidating aspects of dermal pharmacokinetics.