Pharmacokinetic Noninteraction of Triazolam and Ethanol

Five healthy volunteers received a single 0.5-mg dose of triazolam on two occasions: once with 100 to 200 ml of water, and on a second trial with 60 ml of commercial vodka mixed with 60 ml of water. There were no significant differences between control and ethanol-coadministration trials in peak serum triazolam level (5.4 vs. 5.4 ng/ml), time of peak level (1.5 vs. 1.6 hours), elimination half-life (2.8 vs. 2.6 hours), or apparent oral clearance (6.6 vs. 7.9 ml/min/kg). The potential pharmacodynamic interaction of triazolam and ethanol is more important than the minimal pharmacokinetic interaction.