Summary
In 6 healthy volunteers, intravenous infusions of nitroglycerin 4.8 and 10.6 µg/min yielded mean steady-state plasma concentrations of 0.5±0.02 and 0.82±0.04 ng/ml as determined by a gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric method. The plasma concentrations reached in the same subjects 17 h after application of Nitroderm TTS 5 and 10 with in vivo release rates of 3.7 and 5.7 µg/min were 0.28±0.01 and 0.37±0.01 ng/ml, respectively. Thus, 75% of the quantity of nitroglycerin released by the systems passed into the circulation. The inter-individual and intra-individual variations in plasma concentrations were similar for both modes of administration. The nitroglycerin-induced morphological changes in the fingerpulse wave were clearly dose-dependent, but it seems that this pharmacodynamic parameter is determined less by the plasma concentration than by the nitroglycerin content of the vascular wall.
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Imhof, P.R., Vuillemin, T., Gérardin, A. et al. Studies of the bioavailability of nitroglycerin from a transdermal therapeutic system (Nitroderm TTS). Eur J Clin Pharmacol 27, 7–12 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00553146
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00553146