Human pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies on Ro31-1118, a new beta-adrenoceptor antagonist

The pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects of Ro31-1118 were examined in groups of healthy volunteers. In three subjects given 10 mg of [14C]-Ro31-1118 orally, peak levels of radioactivity (84 +/- 5 ng/ml) were 16 times those of the parent drug (approximately 5 ng/ml). Very little parent drug was recovered in the urine, although recovery of total radioactivity was nearly 80% in the urine by day 5. In five subjects studied after both oral and intravenous administration of 20 mg Ro31-1118 the average bioavailability was 57% (range 41-73%). Following intravenous infusion the apparent volume of distribution for the five subjects averaged 590 1 (range 510-700 1). The elimination half-life averaged 18 h (range 17-26 h). In eight subjects who received 40, 80, 160 and 320 mg of Ro31-1118 orally there was a linear relationship between dose and plasma concentration (r = 0.999) and between dose and AUC (r = 0.996). Ro31-1118 had no effect on resting heart rate whereas atenolol reduced resting heart rate up to 6 h after all doses. The maximum reduction of an exercise tachycardia after Ro31-1118 (320 mg) was 23.13 +/- 0.7% and compared with atenolol (100 mg) was 28.2 +/- 1.25%. At 24 h the percentage reduction after Ro31-1118 was 21.5 +/- 1.7%, while after atenolol the percentage inhibition had decreased to 11.1 +/- 1.6%. In three subjects Ro31-1118 (160 mg) orally had no effect on resting heart rate, forearm blood flow and systolic blood pressure, while atenolol (50 mg) reduced all three parameters.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)