Pharmacokinetics
Nitrazepam is largely bound to plasma proteins. Benzodiazepines such as nitrazepam are lipid soluble and have a high cerebral uptake. The time for nitrazepam to reach peak plasma concentrations following oral administration is about 2 hours (0.5 to 5 hours). The half-life of nitrazepam is 16.5 to 48.3 (mean 28.8) hours. Both low dose (5 mg) and high dose (10 mg) of nitrazepam significantly increases growth hormone levels in humans. Nitrazepam's half-life in the cerebrospinal fluid, 68 hours, indicates that nitrazepam is eliminated extremely slowly from the cerebrospinal fluid. Nitrazepam has a half-life of about 29 hours in young people and a much longer half-life in the elderly. In the elderly the half-life is about 40 hours. Concomitant food intake has no influence on the rate of absorption of nitrazepam nor on its bioavailability. Therefore nitrazepam can be taken with or without food.
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