Dosage form design for improvement of bioavailability of levodopa III: Influence of dose on pharmacokinetic behavior of levodopa in dogs and Parkinsonian patients.

The relationship between the dose of levodopa and its pharmacokinetic behavior following intravenous and oral administration was investigated in dogs and parkinsonian patients. Six beagle dogs received single doses of 2.4, 4.8, and 9.6 mg of levodopa/kg iv and single doses of 4.8, 9.6, and 19.2 mg of levodopa/kg po in a crossover fashion on separate occasions. Three parkinsonian patients received single oral doses of approximately 3.8, 7.7, and 15.4 mg of levodopa/kg in a crossover test. Plasma samples were analyzed for intact levodopa and total dopamine. The relationship between the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) of levodopa and the intravenous dose to dogs was linear. However, in both dogs and patients, the relationship after oral dosing was nonlinear, with the relative AUC increasing with increasing dose. Therefore, the pharmacokinetic behavior of levodopa after oral administration to dogs and patients was dose dependent.