Oral pemoline kinetics in hyperactive children

The time course of pemoline in plasma was investigated in seven prepubescent boys with attention‐deficit disorders who were hyperactive. Maximum plasma concentrations of 4.3 ±1.0 mg/L were reached 2.8 ± 1.8 hours after a single, 2 mg/kg oral dose of pemoline, followed by a monoexponential decline in plasma concentration over time. Mean t½ and total body clearance of pemoline were 8.6 hours and 0.65 ml/min/kg. The 600% interindividual variation in elimination t½ and the 300% variation in total body clearance of pemoline may explain the unpredictable nature of its dynamics and associated neurotoxicity in some cases. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (1985) 37 , 606–609; doi: 10.1038/clpt.1985.96