APOMORPHINE PHARMACOKINETICS IN PARKINSONISM AFTER INTRANASAL AND SUBCUTANEOUS APPLICATION

Apomorphine was administered subcutaneously and intranasally to 7 pati ents suffering from Parkinsonism with 'on-off' problems. This comparat ive pharmacokinetic study showed that the two routes of administration are comparable with respect to absorption kinetics. Apomorphine is ra pidly absorbed when administered intranasally or subcutaneously with a n absorption half life of 8.6 min and 5.8 min, respectively. The high rate of absorption is also reflected by the time for the plasma concen tration to peak (t(max)) and the lag times. The t(max) was 23 min for intranasal route and 18 min for the subcutaneous route while the lag t imes were 2.8 min and 3.9 min, respectively. The bioavailability of in tranasal apomorphine compared to the subcutaneous route amounted to 45 %. After intranasal and subcutaneous administrations, the elimination half life of apomorphine amounted to 31 min and 27 min, respectively.