The concentration-dependent disposition and kinetics of inulin

The disposition of inulin was studied in 30 healthy male and 10 healthy female volunteers, and 10 patients with stable chronic renal failure (mean creatinine clearance 45 ml.min-1) following intravenous infusion of 70 mg.kg-1 over 5 min. Plasma concentrations fell rapidly initially but the rate of decline decreased continuously over 8 h and a linear terminal elimination phase could not be identified. Inulin was excreted rapidly by the subjects with normal renal function and 97.3% of the dose was recovered in the urine in 8 h. There was a progressive highly significant fall in the renal clearance of inulin after 2 h as plasma concentrations fell below about 150 mg.l-1. Six to 8 h after administration the clearance was less than 50% of the initial value in the healthy volunteers and the corresponding fall in the renal patients was 33%. The concentration-dependent renal clearance of inulin was confirmed in "step-up" and "step-down" constant infusion studies in which clearances were measured at mean plasma concentrations ranging from 35.2 to 186.7 mg.l-1. These studies virtually excluded time, changes in posture and urine flow rate as important factors. There was no statistically significant fall in clearance during the first 2 h and kinetic analysis was based on data obtained over this time.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)