Pharmacokinetics of etretinate in psoriatic patients with liver fibrosis

A study of the pharmacokinetics of etretinate in 7 psoriatic patients with liver fibrosis or liver cirrhosis is reported. Maximum plasma concentrations occurred within 1.5-4.0 hr. Absorption lag-times ranged from 0.3-2.5 hr, whereas the apparent absorption first order half-times (t1/2ka) were within the range of 0.3-1.2 hr. As judged from the AUC-values corrected for dose and body weight a six-fold interindividual variation existed with regard to the systemic availability of etretinate. Absorption and disposition rates of etretinate in subjects with hepatic fibrosis increasing to cirrhosis were not significantly altered compared with previous results in psoriatic patients with normal liver function.