Pharmacokinetic Evaluation of Flurbiprofen Gel Using Rats

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The pharmacokinetic characteristics of an 1% flurbiprofen gel were evaluated using rats in reference to IV bolus and oral administration of the drug using rats. Following the transdermal application of the gel at the dose of 2 mg/kg as flurbiprofen, the $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$ of the drug were $2.14\;{\mu}g/ml$ and 2 hr, respectively, whereas those after the oral administration of the drug as a suspension were $9.90\;{\mu}g/ml$ and 0.25 hr, respectively. These results indicate that, by the transdermal administration fo flubiprofen as the gel, the absorption of the drug was much slowed down and the lower $C_{max}$ compared to the oral administration may reduce the systemic side effects of the drug. The relative bioavailability of the flurbiprofen gel in reference to the oral dose was 48.5%. Tissue levels of flurbiprofen following the application of 50 mg of the 1% flurbiprofen gel onto ventral skin of rats showed that the maximum drug concentrations in the skin $(8.52\;{\mu}g/g)$ and the muscle $(2.06\;{\mu}g/g)$ occurred at 2 hrs postdose. The drug concentration in the both tissues remained relatively constant over the next 6 hrs following the peak concentration.