COMPARISON BETWEEN PERCUTANEOUS AND SUBCUTANEOUS ROUTES OF ADMINISTRATION OF APOMORPHINE IN RABBIT

Apomorphine (0.5 mg/kg) was administered subcutaneously and percutaneo usly to rabbit in order to compare the pharmacokinetic data obtained a ccording these two different routes. For the percutaneous administrati on, an apomorphine gel was prepared by dissolution of apomorphine in a n hydroxypropylmethylcellulose gel of medium viscosity. The evaluation of plasma levels after percutaneous route showed an absorption in all the animals. The time to peak plasma concentration (29.4 +/- 7.8 min) was close than after the subcutaneous route (25.8 +/- 4.9 min). The a bsorption of apomorphine was of 90% at minute 68 and minute 321 min af ter the subcutaneous and the percutaneous route, respectively. The pea k plasma concentration and the area under the curve were significantly greater with the subcutaneous route. The bioequivalence of the percut aneous route was 35% of the subcutaneous administration. Those data su ggested that the percutaneous route of apomorphine could be evaluated in humans to test its efficacy in the treatment of motor fluctuations in parkinsonian patients.