[Bioavailability of metoclopramide with special reference to relevant literature data]

An intraindividual comparative study of the pharmacokinetic properties of metoclopramide, the active principle of Gastronerton, and metoclopramide of a reference drug after one single administration was carried out on 6 male healthy volunteers. Gastronerton was available as ampoules, tablets, solution and capsules; the reference drug as ampoules, tablets and solution (all of them as commercial products). The concentrations of metoclopramide in the serum were determined until 24 h after administration. As one of the persons dropped out another volunteer was included. There were 6 cases for the intraindividual comparison of the parenteral/enteral form except for the comparison of the tablets/ampoules of the reference drug. An open 2-compartment model was taken as a basis for the calculation of the serum concentration curves and the pharmacokinetic parameters. With regard to the maximum serum concentrations, the preparations differed only insignificantly. The bioavailability results were as follows: metoclopramide of Gastronerton tablets 80.3%, metoclopramide of the tablets of the reference drug 57.6%, Gastronerton solution 76.7%, solution of the reference drug 49.7%. The bioavailability of metoclopramide of Gastronerton capsules was 54.8%. The half-life values were between 2.8 and 8.3 h with a mean value of 5 h.