Intestinal absorption of drugs II. The effect of inclusion in cyclodextrins on the absorption of dantrolene

The inclusion of dantrolene sodium, a muscle relaxant with poor water-solubility, in-,- and-cyclodextrins was determined. Subsequently, the influence of the cyclodextrins on the absorption of the drug from aqueous solutions was investigated in a chronically isolated internal loop in the small intestine of the rat.A good correlation was found between the inclusion of dantrolene in the various cyclodextrins and the decrease in the absorption rate resulting from a reduction of the thermodynamically active dantrolene according to the phase-separation model. It was concluded that the cyclodextrins do not have a significant influence on the passage of dantrolene across the absorption barrier. Furthermore, experimental evidence was collected to support the fact that-cyclodextrin was absorbed to a limited, if not negligible, extent in the small intestine of the rat.