Pharmacokinetics of chlormethiazole in humans.

The pharmacokinetics of chlormethiazole have been studied in six healthy volunteers following an intravenous infusion of the drug. The log. plasma concentration-time curve of chlormethiazole after cessation of the infusion was found to be curvilinear and was fitted therefore, by a bi-exponential equation computed by non-linear least squares regression analysis. Half-lives for the initial alpha-phase (0.54+/-0.05 h) and the terminal beta-phase (4.05+/-0.60 h) were calculated together with other pharmacokinetic parameters of the two compartment open model. An explanation for the discrepancy between the presently reported plasma half-lives and those appearing in the literature has been presented. The pharmacokinetic treatment of the plasma concentration-time data obtained following intravenous infusion also enabled the prediction that the maximal systemic availability of an orally administered dose of chlormethiazole would be of the order of 15%.