The pharmacokinetics of dapsone after oral administration to healthy volunteers

After oral administration of 100 mg dapsone (DDS) to 25 healthy volunteers peak serum DDS concentrations between 1.10 and 2.33 mg l-1 were reached within 0.5 to 4 h. AUCs varied from 20.3 to 75.4 mg l-1 h, while the elimination half-lives ranged from 11.5 to 29.2 h. The apparent volumes of distribution were 0.84 to 1.26 l kg-1 body weight, assuming complete bioavailability. Statistically significant differences in peak drug concentration, peak time and AUC existed between males and females. Absorption and elimination of DDS appeared to be faster than reported in other studies, suggesting differences in DDS kinetics between healthy volunteers and patients.