Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the bioequivalence of two zolpidem tartrate tablets, Stilnox tablet(Sanofi-aventis Korea, reference product) and Zanilo tablet(ChoDang Pharm Co., Ltd., Korea, test product), according to the guidelines of Korea Food and Drug Administration(KFDA). After adding an internal standard(cimetropium), 250 ${\mu}L$ plasma samples were extracted using 1.3 mL of ethyl acetate. Extracted compounds were analyzed by HPLC with triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry. This method for determination of zolpidem is proved accurate and reproducible with the limit of quantitation of 1 ng/mL in human plasma. Twenty-four healthy male Korean volunteers received each medicine at the zolpidem tartrate dose of 10 mg in a $2{\times}2$ crossover study. There was one-week washout period between the doses. Plasma concentrations of zolpidem were monitored for over a period of 8 hr after the administration. $AUC_{0-t}$(the area under the plasma concentration-time curve) was calculated by the linear trapezoidal rule. $C_{max}$(maximum plasma drug concentration) and $T_{max}$(time to reach $C_{max}$) were compiled from the plasma concentration-time data. Analysis of variance was carried out using logarithmically transformed $AUC_{0-t}$ and $C_{max}$. No significant sequence effect was found for all of the bio-availability parameters indicating that the crossover design was properly performed. The 90% confidence intervals for the log transformed data were acceptable range of log 0.8 to log 1.25(e.g., log 0.92-log 1.06 for $AUC_{0-t}$, log 0.96-log 1.13 for $C_{max}$). The major parameters, $AUC_{0-t}$ and $C_{max}$ met the criteria of KFDA for bioequivalence indicating that Zanilo tablet is bioequivalent to Stilnox tablet.
