Propranolol interactions with diazepam, lorazepam, and alprazolam

Healthy subjects received single doses of diazepam (5 to 10 mg iv), lorazepam (2 mg iv), or alprazolam (1 mg orally) on two occasions, once in the control state and once with propranolol, 80 mg three times a day. Compliance with the propranolol regimen was verified by measurement of serum propranolol levels (overall means: 100 ng/ml) and by reduction in sensitivity to intravenous metaproterenol to one-thirtieth that of the control value. Propranolol prolonged diazepam elimination t1/2 (58 and 49 hr), reduced its clearance (0.20 and 0.24 ml/min/kg), and increased the 168-hr AUC for desmethyldiazepam, the major metabolite of diazepam (5.63 and 4.81 micrograms/ml . hr). Propranolol had no significant effect on lorazepam t1/2 (13.2 and 12.7 hr) or clearance (1.33 and 1.36 ml/min/kg), nor on alprazolam t1/2 (15.9 and 18.5 hr) or clearance (1.1 and 0.8 ml/min/kg). Thus propranolol induces a small but significant reduction in clearance of diazepam, biotransformed mainly by the oxidative reaction of N-demethylation. Propranolol does not impair lorazepam clearance by glucuronide conjugation nor that of alprazolam by aliphatic hydroxylation.