[Comparative biological availability of two different ibuprofen granules]

Bioavailability of ibuprofen (CAS 15687-27-1) was investigated in 12 healthy volunteers who received 2 sachets of newly developed effervescent granules (Imbun), each containing 500 mg of ibuprofen lysine salt (corresponding to 292.6 mg of ibuprofen) as the test preparation and 1 sachet of commercially available granules containing 600 mg ibuprofen. Blood samples were withdrawn pre-dose and at 16 occasions until 10 h post dose. Ibuprofen plasma concentrations were assayed by HPLC using a proprietary column-switching technique. Maximum plasma concentrations, Cmax, and times of their occurrence, tmax, were taken from the plasma data directly, areas under the plasma level/time curves, AUC0-10, were calculated using the trapezoidal rule. Pharmacokinetic parameters were checked for significant differences using ANOVA with p = 0.05. When the test preparation was applied maximum ibuprofen levels of 60 +/- 17 micrograms/ml were reached at 27 +/- 17 min p. appl. while Cmax was 52 +/- 12 micrograms/ml at tmax = 94 +/- 27 min after application of the reference preparation. AUC values were 150 +/- 44 microgramsh/ml (test) and 148 +/- 33 microgramsh/ml (reference), respectively. Thus, relative bioavailability of ibuprofen was 101.8 +/- 16.3% (or 104.1 +/- 16.7% when the slight differences in doses were corrected for). Differences in extent of absorption as measured by AUC and Cmax proved to be insignificant whereas differences in absorption rate as measured by tmax were highly significant (p < 0.001).