Butofilolol pharmacokinetics in chronic renal insufficiency

The pharmacokinetics of butofilolol, a new beta-blocking drug used in the treatment of hypertension, were investigated in 9 patients with varying degrees of renal impairment (creatinine clearance ranging from 65 ml/min to 6.6 ml/min). The drug was administered as a single oral 100-mg dose. Plasma and urine concentrations of the parent drug were measured. The pharmacokinetic parameters of butofilolol calculated from examination of patients with renal failure were compared to those obtained from healthy subjects. Renal failure was found to be associated with a marked increase of the areas under the plasma concentration-time curves of the parent drug whereas its elimination rate constant tended to increase, especially in severe renal failure. A highly significant relationship between the amounts of unchanged drug excreted in urine and the creatinine clearance was observed (r = 0.90, p less than 0.001). The higher plasma levels of the parent drug observed in renal failure might be due to a decrease in the first-pass hepatic extraction of the drug. But these changes in plasma clearance were probably counteracted by modification of the volume of distribution, so that the net result of these alterations was a slight increase in the elimination half-life.