Pharmacokinetics of propranolol in normal healthy volunteers

The pharmacokinetics of propranolol in blood was studied in healthy volunteers, following intravenous administration of 0.1 mg/kg and increasing oral doses of 10,20, and 40 mg, using a specific and sensitive gas Chromatographie method. The systemic availability of orally administered propranolol varied from 9% to 38% between subjects, but it was constant within each subject. A linear relationship was found between the area under the blood concentration-time curve and the oral dose. At variance with literature data, we could not observe a threshold dose.