Pharmacokinetics of papaverine hydrochloride and the biopharmaceutics of its oral dosage forms.

The pharmacokinetics of completely metabolized papaverine hydrochloride were characterized by a linear sum of three exponentials on intravenous administration with respective 1.5, 19 and 107 min apparent half lives. There was a time-dependent partition from plasma water into red blood cells with an apparent half life of 1.5--3 min. The partition coefficient normally ranged between 8 and 15 at therapeutic levels but approached unity at high plasma concentrations to indicate a saturable partition. Apparent compartmental volumes of distribution referenced to total concentrations in the plasma were 4.3--4.8, 11--13 and 20--25 liters. Protein binding was 91--95%. The hepatic clearance of blood was 960 ml/min, corresponding to a hepatic efficiency of 69%, and indicated that the clearance of protein-bound drug was consistent with the observed first pass metabolism of 70% for oral solutions. No dose dependency was observed on intravenous administration or on oral administration of solutions and tablets. Tablets with release lag times of 10--15 min showed relative bioavailabilities of 52%. Two different lots of sustained release capsules showed 68 and 89% relative bioavailabilities. Release lag times among capsules ranged between 0 and 170 min. Loo-Riegelman calculations and analog computer fittings were consistent with a half life of absorption from oral solutions of 19 min and zero order release rates from tablets and sustained release capsules. Chronic studies of tablets q.i.d. and capsules b.i.d. confirmed lack of accumulation. An appropriately designed 300 mg sustained release capsule, b.i.d., for an arbitrary plasma level of 0.200 microgram/ml should have one tenth the release rate of the studied capsules.