A comparison between antipyrine and aminopyrine blood clearances

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between two quantitative liver functions, that is, antipyrine blood clearance and aminopyrine blood clearance, in normal subjects and in patients with liver cirrhosis. The mean blood clearances of antipyrine and aminopyrine in cirrhotic patients (0.220 +/- 0.085 ml/min/kg and 1.13 +/- 0.56 ml/min/kg; n = 64) was 50% and 38% of that of normal subjects (0.440 +/- 0.110 ml/min/kg and 2.95 +/- 0.59 ml/min/kg; n = 11). While no significant correlation was demonstrated between these two values in normal subjects (n = 11, r = -0.107, p greater than 0.10), a strong positive correlation was observed between antipyrine and aminopyrine blood clearances in cirrhotic patients (n = 64, r = 0.846, p less than 0.001). These results suggest that both antipyrine and aminopyrine blood clearances may be valuable indicators for assessing the total hepatic functioning mass in cirrhotics.