[Pharmacokinetic studies on interactions between dipotassium clorazepate and alcohol after oral application (author's...

Pharmacokinetic investigations concerning possible interactions of an orally administered single dosage of 20 mg dipotassium clorazepate and ethanol were conducted with 14 male subjects. Blood alcohol concentrations did not appear to be influenced by dipotassium clorazepate or its metabolites nordiazepam and oxazepam. The increase in oxazepam glucuronide excreted in the urine, however, was statistically significant. Nordiazepam concentration in the serum differed considerably between the group with ethanol administration and the control group. This metabolization pattern is apparently the result of the inhibitory effect of ethanol on hydroxylization processes during biotransformation of the metabolite nordiazepam.