Examination of blood clobazam levels and several pupillary measures in humans

• Published in: Journal of pharmaceutical sciences Vol. 68; no. 8; p. 1002
• Main Authors: Kotzan, J A, Needham, T E, Honigberg, I L, Vallner, J J, Stewart, J T, Brown, W J, Jun, H W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.08.1979
• Subjects: Anxiety - physiopathology; Benzodiazepines - blood; Benzodiazepines - pharmacology; Flicker Fusion - drug effects; Humans; Male; Psychological Tests; Pupil - drug effects; Time Factors
• ISSN: 0022-3549
• DOI: 10.1002/jps.2600680822

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was administered to 15 subjects before initiation of the experiment. Three subgroups of five subjects were defined by computing the unweighted sum of the state and trait anxiety scores. A 40-mg dose of clobazam, a 1.5-benzodiazepine, was administered to each subject and repeated with two additional dosage forms following a 2-week washout period. Blood samples were withdrawn, and blood levels were determined by fluorometric analysis. Additionally, pupillary measures of critical flicker fusion, constriction, and dilation in response to a cognitive task were obtained at 0, 2, 4, and 6 hr. A repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that blood levels were, as expected, statistically different over time and dosage form. The pupillary constriction mirrored the blood levels in statistical patterns. The pupillary measure of cognition related to the anxiety state after the performance effects of the cognitive task were statistically removed. The results suggest that clobazam has less immediate human effect than does diazepam.