Clinical and pharmacological study of a novel controlled release preparation of salbutamol.

This study compared the efficacy of 8 mg controlled release (CR) salbutamol tablets twice daily with standard 4 mg salbutamol tablets four times daily in patients with chronic obstructive airways disease. There was significant bronchodilation in both treatment groups as measured by standard spirometry (P less than 0.05). With the CR preparation there was significantly less wheeze (P less than 0.05) and significantly reduced requirement for rescue bronchodilator (P less than 0.05). Salbutamol levels measured hourly on the final day of each treatment period showed that the drug profile in the CR group was smoother, without the troughs and peaks seen with standard tablets.