Effect of oral inflammation on the absorption of Buprenorphine

Buprenorphine is an important analgesic due to its possibility of being administered orally and its reduced side effects when compared to other opioids. Gingivostomatitis in cats is a frequent multifactorial condition that causes severe pain and discomfort so it requires sturdy symptomatic treatments.  Because it can be absorbed orally, and because it has fewer side-effects than other opiods, buprenorphine is an important analgesic.  Gingivostomatitis in cats is a painful, multifactorial condition that requires aggressive symptomatic treatment.

The authors wanted to determine if severe oral inflammation influences the effects of orally administered buprenorphine. Six cats with varying degrees of gingivostomatitis were incorporated into this prospective study.

The patients were divided into two groups, A and B. On day one, group A received oral buprenorphine while group B received a saline solution. On day two, group A was given the same saline solution and group B received buprenorphine. Cats were subjectively assessed for pain, food consumption and other physical parameters at 30, 90 and 360 min after the administration. Blood samples were also collected at these times.

Although limited, the authors concluded that pain scores were significantly reduced at 30 and 90 minutes in cats that took buprenorphine and that plasma concentration of this drug had low variability between them. Other studies are needed to further clarify the relationship between oral inflammation and the absorption of drugs administered this way.

In Evaluation of analgesic effect and absorption of buprenorphine after buccal administration in cats with oral disease; Thaleia-Rengina Stathopoulou, Maria Kouki, Bruno H Pypendop, Atholl Johnston, Serafeim Papadimitriou, and Ludovic Pelligand; Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery Vol 20 (2017).