Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Transdermal mirtazapine effects and drug levels in healthy cats
By Benson, Kellyi K et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2017·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Drug exposure and clinical effect of transdermal mirtazapine in healthy young cats: a pilot study.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of healthy young cats was given a new transdermal medication called mirtazapine to see if it would help increase their appetite and activity levels. The cats showed a significant boost in how much they ate, how active they were, and even how much they begged for food after using the medication compared to a placebo. The study found that the transdermal gel worked well, but some cats experienced side effects, suggesting that a lower dose might be better. Overall, the treatment helped the cats feel more energetic and hungry.
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Abstract
Objectives The objective of this study was to measure drug exposure and clinical effects after administration of transdermal mirtazapine (TMZ) in healthy cats. Methods Phase I: seven healthy research cats received (1) 3.75 mg and 7.5 mg TMZ once aurally with 48 h serum sampling (serum samples were obtained via the jugular catheter at 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 9, 12, 24, 36 and 48 h); (2) 7.5 mg TMZ and placebo daily aurally for 6 days then 48 h serum sampling; (3) 1.88 mg mirtazapine orally once with serum sampling at 1, 4 and 8 h. Phase II: 20 client-owned cats were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, three-way crossover clinical effect study. Treatments consisted of 6 days of aural 7.5 mg TMZ or placebo gel at home, and 1.88 mg mirtazapine orally once in the clinic. Owners documented appetite, rate of food ingestion, begging activity and vocalization daily at home. On day 6, food consumed, activity and vocalization were documented in hospital, and trough and peak serum mirtazapine levels were obtained. Serum mirtazapine and gel concentrations were measured using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. Results Phase I: administration of TMZ achieved measureable serum mirtazapine concentrations. Area under the curveof multidose 7.5 mg TMZ was significantly higher than single-dose 1.88 mg oral mirtazapine (OMZ) ( P = 0.02). Phase II: client-owned cats administered TMZ had a significant increase in appetite ( P = 0.003), rate of food ingestion ( P = 0.002), activity ( P = 0.002), begging ( P = 0.002) and vocalization ( P = 0.002) at home. In hospital there was a significant increase in food ingested with both TMZ and OMZ compared with placebo ( P <0.05). Gel concentrations ranged from 87%-119% of target dose. Conclusions and relevance TMZ 7.5 mg daily achieves measureable serum concentrations and produces significant appetite stimulation despite variance in compounded gel concentrations, but side effects denote a lower dose is indicated.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27613493/