The pharmacokinetics of oral nifedipine--a population study.

1. The pharmacokinetics and metabolism of nifedipine have been studied in a population of 59 young male volunteers following administration of a 10 mg capsule. 2. The area under the plasma concentration-time curves (AUC) for nifedipine demonstrated a skewed but not a bimodal distribution (mean 154 ng ml-1 h; range 54-306 ng ml-1h). 3. Calculation of the ratio of the AUC of nifedipine to the AUC of its nitropyridine metabolite did not separate those individuals with high AUC values of nifedipine from the remainder of the population. 4. Similarly there was no evidence for bimodality in the excretion of the major urinary metabolite. Those subjects with high plasma AUC values for nifedipine excreted similar amounts to the remainder of the population. 5. In contrast to a previous study using a 20 mg oral dose, there was no evidence of polymorphism in the pharmacokinetics or metabolism of nifedipine following a single 10 mg oral dose.