Intramuscular atropine in elderly people: pharmacokinetic studies using the radioreceptor assay and some pharmacodynamic responses

Civilian adult self injections of atropine-trimedoxime (TMB4) auto-injectors

INTRODUCTION

The clinical effects of self injections of atropine-trimedoxime auto-injectors distributed to the civilian population as a field antidote for nerve agent attack were assessed.

METHODS

Data on self injections by adults (> or = 18 years) were collected from the Israel Poison Information Center and a hospital Emergency Department's records during a 2-year period. The data included demographics, time interval from injection, type of auto-injector, clinical manifestations and atropinization score.

RESULTS

Sixty-five patients, all with unintentional self injections, were reported. Systemic atropine effects were observed in 24 patients, but no severe atropinization. The atropinization score was significantly higher in the 2 mg atropine dose group than in the two lower dose groups, which were in the normal range. No specific adverse effects attributable to trimedoxime were observed. Intravenous fluids and physostigmine were not required.

CONCLUSION

Only mild reactions were observed following self-injection of atropine trimedoxime auto-injectors in adults, attesting to their relative safety under these conditions.

Spectral analysis of heart rate variability as a quantitative measure of parasympatholytic effect--integrated pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of three anticholinergic drugs

The time course and concentration-effect relationship of parasympatholytic effects of three anticholinergic drugs were investigated using spectral analysis of heart rate (HR) variability. Single intravenous (i.v.) doses of atropine (10 microg/kg), glycopyrrolate (5 microg/kg), scopolamine (5 microg/kg), and placebo were given to eight healthy volunteers in a double-blind, randomized cross-over study. Electrocardiogram (ECG) was recorded at baseline and 2.5, 5, 10, 20, and 30 minutes, and 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 hours after drug administration, while the subjects breathed at a fixed 0.25 Hz frequency. The powers of two frequency bands (low frequency [LF] = 0.07-0.15 Hz and high frequency [HF] = 0.15-0.40 Hz) were calculated using stationary time series of R-R intervals (RRI) free from ectopic beats. To perform pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) modeling, venous plasma drug concentrations were measured. Atropine and glycopyrrolate, and, to a lesser extent, scopolamine induced decreases in HF power and increases in LF/HF ratio of HR variability, indicating parasympatholytic activity and corresponding changes in sympathovagal balance. Maximal average decreases in HF power were 99%, 94%, and 82%, respectively, but in two scopolamine subjects, a parasympathomimetic effect was dominant. Interindividual variability was least for the Hayano index of HF power (square root (RRI HF-power)/RRI*100), and profound and consistent decreases were seen after atropine and glycopyrrolate. Pharmacokinetics were best fitted to a two-compartment open model, and effect compartment link modeling using the Hayano index was performed with the atropine and glycopyrrolate data. The best description of the PK-PD relationship for both drugs was achieved using the sigmoidal Emax model. Mean (+/-SD) EC50, sigmoidicity factor (gamma), and equilibration rate constant (k(e0)) estimates were 1.35 (+/-0.27) ng/mL, 6.07 (+/-1.98) and 11.0 (+/-5.28) l/h for atropine and 1.35 (+/-0.49) ng/mL, 4.34 (+/-1.55) and 2.26 (+/-0.81) l/h for glycopyrrolate. Spectral analysis of HR variability appears to be a powerful tool in monitoring parasympatholytic drug activity. A sigmoidal Emax model with an extremely steep concentration-response relationship was revealed for atropine and glycopyrrolate. The effects of scopolamine were more incongruous.

Pharmacokinetics and related pharmacodynamics of anticholinergic drugs

The pharmacokinetics and some pharmacodynamic properties of atropine, glycopyrrolate and scopolamine are reviewed. With the development of new analytical methods for drug determination, it is now possible to measure relatively low concentrations of these drugs in biological fluids and, consequently, some new kinetic data have been collected. Following intravenous administration, a fast disappearance from the circulation is observed and due to a high total clearance value their elimination phase half-lives vary from 1 to 4 h. All these agents are nonselective muscarinic receptor antagonists, but their actions on various organ systems with cholinergic innervation show considerable diversity. The cardiovascular effects are of short duration; other peripheral muscarinic effects and CNS effects can last up to 8 h or even longer. Differing from atropine and scopolamine, glycopyrrolate as a quaternary amine penetrates the biological membranes (blood-CNS, placental barriers) slowly and incompletely, making it the drug of choice for elderly patients with coexisting diseases and for obstetric use. Similarly, its oral absorption is slow and erratic, and hence it cannot be used as an oral premedicant. Atropine, scopolamine and glycopyrrolate have a definitely faster absorption rate, when injected into the deltoid muscle compared with administration into the gluteal or vastus lateralis muscles. There appear to be significant differences in the metabolism and renal excretion of these agents. Scopolamine is apparently excreted into the urine mainly as inactive metabolites, nearly half of the atropine dose administered is recovered in the urine as the parent drug or as active metabolites and about 80% of glycopyrrolate is excreted as unchanged drug or active metabolites.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Radioreceptor assay for pharmacokinetic studies of glycopyrrolate

A sensitive radioreceptor assay for the determination of glycopyrrolate concentrations in human plasma, urine and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is described. The applicability of the assay for kinetic studies in human was studied by determining the plasma concentrations and the renal excretion in three gynaecological surgical patients, who received 8 micrograms/kg of glycopyrrolate as a premedication intramuscularly. Tritiated N-methyl scopolamine was used to label the muscarinic cholinergic receptors in the membrane preparation obtained from the rat brain. The limit of detection of the assay was 70 ng/l in plasma, 2 micrograms/l in urine and 140 ng/l in CSF. There was no evidence of cross-reactivity of glycopyrrolate derivatives in clinical concentrations. A very rapid absorption was found with a mean maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) of 14.26 (range 12.02-16.97) micrograms/l and mean Tmax (time to Cmax) of 13.3 (range 10-15) min. and almost 50% of the dose administered was excreted into the urine within 3 hr. The CSF levels of glycopyrrolate were under detection limit. It is concluded that the sensitivity of the method is sufficient for pharmacokinetic studies of glycopyrrolate after therapeutic dosing.

Pharmacokinetics of glycopyrronium in parturients

A sensitive radioreceptor assay was used to determine the pharmacokinetics of glycopyrronium 6 micrograms/kg after intramuscular (deltoid muscle) administration in eight Caesarean section patients. A fast absorption rate was found with a mean maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) of 6.3 (SD 1.5) ng/ml, a mean time to Cmax (Tmax) of 10.0 (3.8) minutes and the elimination half-life (t1) of 33.4 (1.92). The respective AUC0-8 h value was 5.61 (1.27) hours ng/ml. This dose produced a significant increase in the maternal heart rate after 10 minutes (p less than 0.05) and an antisialogogue effect after 30 minutes (p less than 0.05) of the drug injection. Almost half of drug (48.3%) was excreted into the urine within 3 hours. There were no measurable levels of glycopyrronium in the lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) after 60 minutes of drug injection. The concentrations of glycopyrronium in the umbilical venous (0.28 (0.25) ng/ml) and in the umbilical arterial (0.18 (0.11) ng/ml) plasma after 86 minutes of drug injection were low and clinically insignificant, as was the case in the amniotic fluid (0.15 (0.08) ng/ml).

Glycopyrrolate: pharmacokinetics and some pharmacodynamic findings

In the present study, a sensitive and reproducible radioreceptor assay (RRA) was used to evaluate the basic pharmacokinetic properties of glycopyrrolate, a quaternary amine with peripheral antimuscarinic activity. Based on the plasma levels after a single intravenous injection, 6 micrograms/kg (n = 6), the distribution phase half-life (2.22 +/- 1.26 s.d. min) and the elimination phase half-life (0.83 +/- 0.29 h) of glycopyrrolate were short due to the low distribution volume during the elimination phase (0.64 +/- 0.29 l/kg) and to the respectively high total plasma clearance value (0.54 +/- 0.14 l/kg/h). An intramuscular injection, 8 micrograms/kg (n = 6), was followed by a fast and predictable systemic drug absorption and clinical effects (heart rate increase, dry mouth). In this group the time to maximum plasma concentration (tmax) was 27.48 +/- 6.12 min and the maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) was 3.47 +/- 1.48 micrograms/l. After oral drug intake, 4 mg (n = 6), an apparently low and variable gastrointestinal absorption was found (tmax = 300.0 +/- 197.2 min, Cmax = 0.76 +/- 0.35 microgram/l), thus indicating that the oral route of drug administration is of no value as a routine premedication. The correlation between the plasma concentration of glycopyrrolate and the drug effects appears to be variable. Because of its sensitivity, the RRA method proved to be quite useful in evaluating the kinetics of glycopyrrolate and its relationship to various clinical effects.