Pharmacokinetics of perindopril: therapeutic consequences

Perindopril has been studied in groups of normal young and elderly subjects, in patients with hepatic cirrhosis and in hypertensive patients. Plasma concentrations of perindoprilat are increased and renal clearance reduced in elderly subjects, resulting in an increase in the acute pharmacodynamic effect of perindopril. Compensated hepatic cirrhosis does not have any independent effect on the pharmacokinetics of perindopril. After intravenous administration, perindoprilat concentrations show multiexponential decay with a terminal half-life of over 30 hours, associated with sustained inhibition of ACE. During repeated dosing, there is little accumulation of the drug and no evidence of increased hemodynamic effect after chronic treatment in hypertensives. The therapeutic consequences of these findings are: (1) Binding of perindoprilat to ACE prolongs the hemodynamic effect, giving the option of once daily administration. (2) Despite the long terminal elimination half-life of the drug, significant accumulation is not a problem during chronic treatment. (3) Increased plasma concentrations of active metabolite in the elderly and reduced renal elimination may require reduced doses to be used. (4) Further dose adjustment in compensated hepatic cirrhosis is not routinely necessary.