Subcutaneous Pharmacokinetics of Carfentanil in the African Green Monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops sabeus)
Abstract
Carfentanil is an ultra-potent opioid with a clinical potency up to 100 times greater than that of fentanyl. Little scientific attention has been devoted to the in vivo kinetics of carfentanil in non-human primates. This study characterized the pharmacokinetics of carfentanil administered subcutaneously (1.15 g/kg) to adult male African green monkeys. To attenuate carfentanil toxicity, an intravenous (71.02 g/kg) bolus of naloxone was also administered. Blood samples were collected from 2.5 minutes to 24 hours following carfentanil injection, and plasma samples analyzed for carfentanil concentration. The resulting pharmacokinetic data were best described by a one-compartment model with first-order absorption and elimination. The time to peak concentration was 31 minutes and the absorption half-life was 11 minutes. The elimination half-life was 112 minutes. Apparent clearance was 5.5 L/hr/kg and the apparent volume of distribution was 7.9 L/kg. These pharmacokinetic data advance our understanding of carfentanil in a common non-human primate laboratory model, and complement our growing body of research results relating the behavioral and physiological toxicity of carfentanil and its treatment with competitive -opioid antagonists in this same primate model, with potential to advance our understanding of human treatment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1106734
Entities
People
- Bradley M. Burgan
- Jeffrey L. Langston
- Jennifer R. Makar
- Katherine N. Bullock
- Mark C. Moffett
- Mark R. Pennington
- Todd M. Myers
Organizations
- United States Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense