Salicylate removal during plasma exchange in normal volunteers

The removal of salicylate by plasma exchange in normal subjects was studied. Six healthy men volunteers were given aspirin 975 mg every six hours for five days before undergoing plasma exchange. Blood samples for determination of serum salicylate concentrations were obtained from each subject before the 0730 aspirin dose on study days 3-6 and at hourly intervals for several hours before and after plasma exchange, which was performed at approximately 1500 on study day 5. Blood cell counts, serum albumin concentrations, and other blood chemistry values were also evaluated. Salicylate concentrations in serum and in plasma removed by exchange were determined spectrophotometrically. In each subject, serum salicylate concentrations before and after plasma exchange were compared, as were total area under the serum concentration-time curve and salicylate clearance on and off plasma exchange. The mean trough salicylate concentration at 1930 after plasma exchange on day 5 was significantly lower than the mean trough concentration at 1330 before plasma exchange on the same day. The mean AUC during the six-hour period in which plasma exchange occurred was significantly smaller than the AUC in the six-hour period before plasma exchange. Serum albumin concentrations decreased by a mean of 1.7 g/dl as a result of plasma exchange; however, the mean +/- S.D. amount of salicylate removed was only 191.0 +/- 52.4 mg. The amount of salicylate removed by plasma exchange in this study does not appear to be clinically important.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)