Oxybutynin chloride exerts a direct antispasmodic effect on smooth muscle and inhibits the muscarinic action of acetylcholine on smooth muscle. Oxybutynin chloride exhibits only one-fifth of the anticholinergic activity of atropine on the rabbit detrusor muscle, but four to ten times the antispasmodic activity. No blocking effects occur at skeletal neuromuscular junctions or autonomic ganglia (antinicotinic effects).

Oxybutynin chloride relaxes bladder smooth muscle. In patients with conditions characterized by involuntary bladder contractions, cystometric studies have demonstrated that oxybutynin increases bladder (vesical) capacity, diminishes the frequency of uninhibited contractions of the detrusor muscle, and delays the initial desire to void. Oxybutynin thus decreases urgency and the frequency of both incontinent episodes and voluntary urination.

Antimuscarinic activity resides predominantly in the R-isomer. A metabolite, desethyloxybutynin, has pharmacological activity similar to that of oxybutynin in in vitro studies.

Pharmacokinetics

Absorption

Following the first dose of DITROPAN XL® (oxybutynin chloride), oxybutynin plasma concentrations rise for 4 to 6 hours; thereafter steady concentrations are maintained for up to 24 hours, minimizing fluctuations between peak and trough concentrations associated with oxybutynin.

The relative bioavailabilities of R- and S-oxybutynin from DITROPAN XL are 156% and 187%, respectively, compared with oxybutynin. The mean pharmacokinetic parameters for R- and S-oxybutynin are summarized in Table 1. The plasma concentration-time profiles for R- and S-oxybutynin are similar in shape; Figure 1 shows the profile for R-oxybutynin.

Table 1: Mean (SD) R- and S-Oxybutynin Pharmacokinetic Parameters Following a Single Dose of DITROPAN XL 10 mg (n=43)

Figure 1: Mean R-oxybutynin plasma concentrations following a single dose of DITROPAN XL 10 mg and oxybutynin 5 mg administered every 8 hours (n=23 for each treatment).

Steady-state oxybutynin plasma concentrations are achieved by Day 3 of repeated DITROPAN XL dosing, with no observed drug accumulation or change in oxybutynin and desethyloxybutynin pharmacokinetic parameters.

DITROPAN XL steady-state pharmacokinetics were studied in 19 children aged 5-15 years with detrusor overactivity associated with a neurological condition (e.g. spina bifida). The children were on DITROPAN XL total daily dose ranging from 5 to 20 mg (0.10 to 0.77 mg/kg). Sparse sampling technique was used to obtain serum samples. When all available data are normalized to an equivalent of 5 mg per day DITROPAN XL, the mean pharmacokinetic parameters derived for R- and S-oxybutynin and R- and S-desethyloxybutynin are summarized in Table 2. The plasma-time concentration profiles for R- and S-oxybutynin are similar in shape; Figure 2 shows the profile for R-oxybutynin when all available data are normalized to an equivalent of 5 mg per day.

Table 2 : Mean ± SD R- and S-Oxybutynin and R- and S-Desethyloxybutynin Pharmacokinetic Parameters in Children Aged 5-15 Following Administration of 5 to 20 mg DITROPAN XL Once Daily (n=19) All Available Data Normalized to an Equivalent of DITROPAN XL 5 mg Once Daily

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