Transdermal delivery of the synthetic opiate analgesic, buprenorphine,
was studied in healthy volunteers. Pharmacokinetic, safety and tolera
bility data were obtained in a group of 12 healthy subjects following
administration of a short intravenous infusion and the application of
both aqueous- and ethanol-based fillable transdermal therapeutic syste
ms (FTTS), containing 8 and 37.5 mg of drug, respectively. The total a
mount delivered by the 10 cm(2) aqueous reservoir system ranged from 0
.11 to 0.67 mg over the 24 h application period and the steady state i
n vivo flux rates were 0.56-1.91 mu g/cm(2)/h. The total amount delive
red by the 5 cm(2) ethanol-based FTTS ranged from 0.33 to 0.96 mg and
the steady state in vivo flux values were 2.14-5.62 mu g/cm(2)/h. The
results of the feasibility investigation demonstrated that transdermal
delivery of buprenorphine produced sustained plasma levels of drug wi
thin the range observed after intravenous dosing and that an ethanolic
formulation produced approximately a four-fold increase in transderma
l flux. The in vivo investigation suggests that transdermal delivery c
ould provide appropriate plasma levels of buprenorphine for sustained
analgesic effect.