Christoph H. Gleiter’s research while affiliated with Pharmacology Research Institute and other places

In a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind cross-over study in 12 healthy volunteers the effect of acute alcohol intake during treatment with transdermally administered scopolamine (TTS-scopolamine) was investigated. One group of six subjects reached maximal blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) of 80 mg/dL and another group of six subjects a BAC of 130 mg/dL. There was no significant potentiation of alcohol effects on critical flicker fusion frequency by TTS-scopolamine. Sensorimotor function (choice reaction task) was also not significantly more influence by the combination. There was no effect of scopolamine on the elimination of alcohol. The urinary excretion of scopolamine was not influenced by oral intake of alcohol. TTS-scopolamine caused only minor side effects in a few volunteers, such as dry mouth (2 of 12) and blurred vision (1 of 12).

These results demonstrate that vigilance and sensorimotor abilities during continuous transdermal administration of scopolamine are not impaired. This is due to the dose of scopolamine being high enough to evoke an antiemetic effect but with minimal elicitation of undersired side effects. Wesnes and Warburton (1984), who used two oral doses in a pulse mode, showed either no effect on a rapid visual information-processing performance task (0.6 mg scopolamine) or a nearly 20% decrease in psychomotor performance (1.2 mg scopolamine) 30 min after drug intake. This is consistent with data from a recent publication (Muir and Metcalfe 1983) showing peak plasma concentrations after an oral dose of 415 g scopolamine at approximately 30 min. Such peak concentrations are know to be responsible for unpleasant CNS side effects such as drowsiness, giddiness, confusion, and memory disturbancies (Shaw and Urquart 1980). The conclusion of Wesnes and Warburton that the effects of scopolamine are... of relevance for example to sea-borne personnel engaged in tasks requiring sustained mental alertness holds true only for scopolamine given in a pulse mode butnot for TTS-scopolamine.