[The relative pharmacokinetics of two oral formulations of chlormadinone acetate: Lutéran 5mg. and Lutéran tablet 10 mg]. / Etude de la biodisponibilité relative de deux formulations orales d'acétate de chlormadinone: Lutéran 5 mg et Lutéran comprimé dosé à 10 mg.

The bioavailability of a new formulation of chlormadinone acetate (one 10 mg Lutéran tablet) was compared with that of the reference formulation (two 5 mg Lutéran tablets) in a randomised crossover open trial after single oral administration of a 10 mg dose to 12 healthy female volunteers. Measurements of chlormadinone acetate plasma samples were performed by combined gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Blood samples were collected before administration and up to 144 hours after administration. No significant difference was found between the two formulations in pharmacokinetic parameters. The bioavailability of the two formulations was equivalent in terms of time to maximum concentration (tmax [mean tmax about 2.5 h]) and area under the concentration-time curve (AUC0-infinity) [Weslake's symmetric confidence interval: 19.24%, Schuirmann two one-sided tests procedure: p < 0.05]. No difference was found between the two formulations with regard to clinical safety parameters.

Tramadol in post-herpetic neuralgia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

The efficacy and safety of sustained-release tramadol compared to placebo in the treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia were evaluated in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study in 127 outpatients. Treatment was administrated for 6 weeks. The dose of tramadol could be increased from 100 mg/day to 400 mg/day (300 mg/day in patients more than 75 years old). Groups were compared on changes in pain intensity on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) between inclusion and the 6th week of treatment (covariance analysis as main analysis and repeated measures analysis as complementary analysis) in the per protocol (PP) population. The randomized population comprised 127 patients aged 35-85 years, mostly females (72.4%). Groups were comparable at inclusion both in the intent to treat (ITT) population (63 patients in the tramadol group and 62 patients in the placebo group) and in the PP population (53 patients in the tramadol group and 55 patients in the placebo group). Mean pain intensity on day 43 adjusted on day 1 (covariance analysis) was significantly lower in the tramadol group than in the placebo group in both the PP (P=0.0499), and the ITT (P=0.031) populations. The two groups significantly differed on change in pain intensity over time (repeated measures analysis) in the ITT population (P=0.012). The percentage of pain relief over the 6th week was significantly higher in the tramadol group than in the placebo group (P=0.017). During the 6th week, patients in the tramadol group required less rescue medication than patients in the placebo group (P=0.022). No significant difference was found between groups either in pain intensity on a 5-point Verbal Scale (VRS) or in quality of life measurements. Tramadol was administered at an average dosage of 275.5 (89.7) mg/day after a 1-week dose-adaptation period. Tramadol was well tolerated. No notable difference appeared between groups either in the percentage of patients with treatment-associated adverse events (TAAE) (29.7% in the tramadol group and 31.8% in the placebo group) or in the total number of TAAE (31 in the tramadol group and 28 in the placebo group).