Pharmacological basis of dosage form of two antimalarials: chloroquine and mepacrine.

Chloroquine and mepacrine appear in the stomach wall and inhibit gastric emptying in the rat after oral or parenteral administration. Measuring their concentration in the stomach wall, it was found that it depended upon on the route of application. A smaller proportion of a given dose accumulated in the stomach wall when chloroquine and mepacrine were introduced by avoiding the stomach. The side effect of the two drugs, the inhibition of gastric motility, could be minimized by not only parenteral but also duodenal administration; the latter could be realized by enteric-coated tablets.