Apomorphine pharmacokinetics in parkinsonism after intranasal and subcutaneous application.

Apomorphine was administered subcutaneously and intranasally to 7 patients suffering from Parkinsonism with 'on-off' problems. This comparative pharmacokinetic study showed that the two routes of administration are comparable with respect to absorption kinetics. Apomorphine is rapidly absorbed when administered intranasally or subcutaneously with an absorption half life of 8.6 min and 5.8 min, respectively. The high rate of absorption is also reflected by the time for the plasma concentration to peak (tmax) and the lag times. The tmax was 23 min for intranasal route and 18 min for the subcutaneous route while the lag times were 2.8 min and 3.9 min, respectively. The bioavailability of intranasal apomorphine compared to the subcutaneous route amounted to 45%. After intranasal and subcutaneous administrations, the elimination half life of apomorphine amounted to 31 min and 27 min, respectively.