Effects of temazepam on saccadic eye movements: concentration-effect relationships in individual volunteers

Saccadic eye movements were analyzed after single oral doses of 20 mg temazepam and placebo in a randomized, double-blind crossover study in eight healthy volunteers. For an optimal evaluation of concentration-effect relationships, 18 blood samples and 43 effect measures were obtained over 33 1/2 hours. After placebo, saccadic peak velocity decreased within the first hour, with average values remaining 6.2% to 12.1% below baseline up to 15 hours after intake. After temazepam, significant changes in peak velocity occurred for 5 hours, with maximum decreases averaging 29.2% (95% confidence interval, 10.0 to 37.2). The apparent duration of effects ranged from 3 to 9 hours in individual subjects. Linear concentration-effect relationships were demonstrated for peak velocity, with individual slopes ranging from -0.11 to -0.46 deg/sec.(ng/ml)-1 (average r = -0.82, all p < 0.01). Differences in protein binding of temazepam did not account for the approximate fourfold variability in individual sensitivities to temazepam. By increasing the frequency of measurements, the accuracy of pharmacodynamic evaluations was clearly enhanced in this study.

Influence of gastric acidity on the bioavailability of digoxin

OBJECTIVE

To study how changes in gastric acidity induced by omeprazole and pentagastrin affect the absorption of unchanged digoxin and its hydrolytic breakdown products.

DESIGN

Double-blind, double-dummy, randomized, crossover study.

SETTING

Academic department of clinical pharmacology.

SUBJECTS

Six healthy male volunteers.

INTERVENTIONS

Subjects received digoxin, 1 mg orally, on three separate occasions: first, after pretreatment with omeprazole; second, after pretreatment with pentagastrin; and third, after "pretreatment" with placebo.

MEASUREMENTS

The in-vitro decomposition of digoxin wa studied using a standard dissolution test. The urinary excretion of digoxin over a 120-hour period was measured using selective high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and a polarization enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Plasma concentrations were measured at 2 hours with the EIA.

MAIN RESULTS

Digoxin was rapidly released from the tablets in the in-vitro test. At acid pH, decomposition (as measured with HPLC) was rapid. Pentagastrin reduced the urinary excretion of unchanged digoxin, as measured by HPLC, from 34% to 21.4% of the dose (difference, -12.6%; 95% Cl, -23.5 to -1.8; P less than 0.05), whereas omeprazole increased urinary excretion to 47.4% (difference, 13.4%; 95 Cl, 2.5% to 24.4%; P less than 0.05). However, such differences were not found with the nonselective polarization EIA.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data suggest that gastric acidity causes the breakdown of digoxin to products that cross-react in the assay (EIA) that is commonly used clinically. In patients with reduced gastric acidity, increased plasma concentrations of unchanged digoxin may not be detected because of limitations of the EIA, which may invalidate the quantitative use of the plasma digoxin concentration as a predictor of digoxin toxicity. Omeprazole, and presumably other gastric-acid inhibitors, may increase the bioavailability of unchanged digoxin.

A comparison of the sensitivities of adaptive tracking, eye movement analysis and visual analog lines to the effects of incremental doses of temazepam in healthy volunteers

The effects of single oral doses of 5, 10, and 20 mg temazepam were evaluated with the adaptive tracking test, analysis of smooth-pursuit and saccadic eye movements, and visual analog lines in a placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover experiment with 12 healthy volunteers. Pharmacodynamic testing was performed until 10 hours and pharmacokinetics were evaluated until 24 hours. Temazepam, 20 mg, caused effects in all tests, with peak effects occurring at 30 minutes. The 10 mg dose caused effects on saccadic eye movements and subjective scores of alertness, whereas 5 mg temazepam was detected only by analysis of saccadic eye movements. Linear relationships between plasma concentrations and effects were found in nine subjects for saccadic peak velocity and eight subjects for subjective scores of alertness. The results of this study demonstrate manifest differences in the sensitivities of performance tests and stress the importance of validation of methods when effects of drugs on human performance are studied.