Plasma concentration profile of tolterodine and 5-hydroxymethyl tolterodine following transdermal administration of tolterodine in rats.

: In this study, the plasma concentration profiles of tolterodine and its active metabolite, 5-hydroxymethyl tolterodine (5-HM tolterodine) were investigated in rats with tolterodine transdermal patches using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The plasma samples were extracted by a liquid-liquid extraction method, with an n-hexane/isopropyl alcohol mixture (9:1, v/v). Tiropramide was used as an internal standard (IS). Chromatographic separation was achieved using a C18 column (2.0 mm × 150 mm, 5 μm), with a mobile phase consisting of 5 mM ammonium acetate in distilled water/acetonitrile (50:50, v/v). The precursor-product ion pairs used for multiple reaction monitoring were m/z 326 → 284 (tolterodine), m/z 342 → 223 (5-HM tolterodine), and m/z 468 → 367 (IS). Subsequently, the plasma concentration levels of tolterodine and 5-HM tolterodine were measured in rat plasma after oral or transdermal administration of tolterodine and the pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated. The Cmax of the patch was less than that of the oral administration but their AUC values were comparable. The resulting data suggested that a transdermal dose of tolterodine 3 times higher (9 mg/12 cm2) could yield comparable efficacy to a 10 mg/kg oral dose in rats. These results would provide useful information on dose optimization of tolterodine transdermal patch for further clinical studies.