Pharmacokinetics of intravenous enoximone in dialysis patients

The new vasodilator and inotropic drug enoximone was given to dialysis patients as a single intravenous dose of 1 mg/kg. Plasma concentrations were measured up to 240 min. The mother compound enoximone reached a high plasma concentration intravenously, followed by a quick decline of the plasma concentration curve (t1/2 = 1.5 h), comparable to that of normal volunteers. The sulfoxide metabolite, however, had a tremendously prolonged half-life (t1/2 = 7.8 h) in comparison to healthy volunteers (t1/2 = 2.2 h). The volume of distribution of enoximone varies from 0.7-4.8 L/kg with a mean of 2.11 L/kg in comparison to 1.6 L/kg in healthy individuals. The area under the curve (AUC) of enoximone was 815.2 ng/ml/h, and that of the sulfoxide metabolite was 10,200.1 ng/ml/h.