The pharmacokinetics of midazolam in man

Abstract

Midazolam, a new water-soluble benzodiazepine, was administered as: i) 5 mg intravenously, ii) a 10-mg oral solution and iii) a 10-mg oral tablet, to six volunteers whose informed consent had been obtained. Midazolam plasma concentrations were measured using an electron-capture gas-liquid chromatographic assay. After 5-mg intravenous midazolam, subjects fell asleep within 1–2 min and continued to sleep for an average of 1.33 h. After oral midazolam intake (solution or tablets), drowsiness appeared after a average of 0.38 h (range 0.25–0.55 h) and sleep continued for an average of 1.17 h. The time to reach peak plasma midazolam concentration after the 10-mg solution dose (0.37±0.45 h) did not differe significantly (‘t’=2.04, df=10,p>0.05) from the time to reach peak plasma midazolam level after the 10-mg tablet dose (0.74±0.45 h). The terminal half-life, (t_1/2), of midazolam in plasma was 1.77±0.83 h and there was no significant difference between the mean terminal half-life values obtained for the three midazolam formulations. The mean total clearance (Cl), of midazolam after 5-mg intravenous administration was 0.383±0.094 l·kg⁻¹·h⁻¹. The first pass effect, F, determined experimentally (0.36±0.09) indicated the substantial first pass metabolism of midazolam. The percentage of the midazolam dose excreted unchanged in urine in four subjects during the 0-8-h urine collection interval was very small (0.011%–0.028%).