[Influence of centrophenoxin administered for one year in high dose on maximal oxygen consumption in aged persons...

The influence of centrophenoxin (meclofenoxate) administration in a high daily dosage of 3 grams has been investigated in 10 persons with a mean age of 64 throughout 12 months. The mean age of the control group was 59. The function of bone marrow and a number of indicators of renal and hepatic function has shown no harmful changes after this long term treatment with an extremely high daily dosage. To investigate a possible influence on aging we chose the oral glucose tolerance test, a test battery for pulmonary function and the maximum oxygen consumption capacity. A highly significant (2P smaller than 0,335) influence of the drug for increasing the maximum oxygen input has been found. The hypothesis is presented, that this effect is due to an increase in cardiac functional capacity. Furthermore a significant decrease in fasting glucose levels has been found, while the glucose concentration one and two hours after administration of 100 grams of oral glucose have shown no significant changes. Body weight revealed a small but significant decrease. Side effects: we found a mild gastric pain in 4 patients that disappeared after 20 minutes. 5 Patients complained of a very small increase in jitteriness.