Summary
Individual variation in the half-life of caffeine in the body was measured by HPLC analysis of saliva samples. The mean for adult males and nonpregnant females was 3.4 h (range 2–5 h,n=25), and 8.3 h (range 3–16 h,n=57) for pregnant women. After delivery, in most cases the values returned to normal within one month. The individual values could not be correlated with age, weight or consumption of coffee. Women drinking large quantities of coffee should be aware of the side effects of coffee during pregnancy, as they may occur at a lower rate of consumption than in the non-pregnant state.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Khanna KL, Rao GS, Cornish HH (1972) Metabolism of caffeine-3H in the rat. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 23: 720–730
Rao GS, Khanna KL, Cornish HH (1973) Identification of two new metabolites of caffeine in the rat urine. Experientia 29: 953–955
Arnaud MJ (1976) Identification, kinetic and quantitative study of [114C] and [1-Me-14C]caffeine metabolites in rat's urine by chromatographic separations. Biochem Med 16: 67–76
Arnaud MJ (1976) Metabolism of 1,3,7-trimethyldihydrouric acid in the rat: New metabolic pathway of caffeine. Experientia 32: 1238–1240
Axelrod J, Reichenthal J (1953) The fate of caffeine in man and a method for its estimation in biological material. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 107: 519–52
Cornish HH, Christman AA (1957) A study of the metabolism of theobromine, theophylline and caffeine in man. J Biol Chem 228: 315–323
Burg AW (1975) Physiological disposition of caffeine. Drug Metab Rev 4: 199–228
Sved S, Hossie RD, McGilveray IJ (1976) The human metabolism of caffeine to theophylline. Res Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol 13: 185–192
Midha KK, Sved S, Hossie RD, McGilveray IJ (1977) High performance liquid chromatographic and mass spectrometric identification of dimethylxanthine metabolites of caffeine in human plasma. Biomed Mass Spectrom 4: 172–177
Gillette JR, Mitchell JR ed (1975) Concepts in biochemical pharmacology. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York (Handbook of experimental pharmacology Vol. XXVIII/3)
Horning MG, Brown L, Mowlin L, Lertratanangkoon K, Kellaway P, Zion TE (1977) Use of saliva in therapeutic drug monitoring. Clin Chem 23: 157–164
Danhof M, Breimer DD (1978) Therapeutic drug monitoring in saliva. Clin Pharmacokinet 3: 39–57
Koysooko R, Ellis EF, Levy G (1974) Relationship between theophylline concentration in plasma and saliva of man. Clin Pharmacol Ther 15: 454–460
Levy G, Elliot EF, Koysooko R (1974) Indirect plasmatheophylline monitoring in asthmatic children by determination of theophylline concentration in saliva. Pediatrics 53: 873–876
Cook CE, Talent CR, Amerson EW, Myers MW, Kepler JA, Taylor GF, Christensen HD (1976) Caffeine in plasma and saliva by a radioimmunoassay procedure. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 199: 679–686
Parsons WD, Neims AH (1977) Effect of smoking on caffeine clearance. Clin Res 25: 676A
Jenne J, Nagasawa H, McHugh R, MacDonald F, Wyse E (1975) Decreased theophylline half-life in cigarette smokers. Life Sci 17: 195–198
Christensen HD, Whitsett TL, Manion CV (1980) The assessment of caffeine kinetics for linearity by superposition. Fed Proc 39: 613
Parsons, WD, Pelletier JG, Neims AH (1976) Caffeine elimination in pregnancy. Clin Res 24: 625
Goodman S, Gilman A (1980) The pharmacological basis of therapeutics. 6th ed. Macmillan, New York, chap 25, p 599
Mau G, Netter P (1974) Kaffee- und Alkoholkonsum — Risikofaktoren in der Schwangerschaft? Geburtshilfe Frauenheilkd 34: 1018–1022
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Knutti, R., Rothweiler, H. & Schlatter, C. Effect of pregnancy on the pharmacokinetics of caffeine. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 21, 121–126 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00637512
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00637512