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Maturational changes of theophylline pharmacokinetics in preterm infants
Author(s) -
Dothey Chantal I,
Tserng KouYi,
Kaw Saroj,
King Katherine C
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.941
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1532-6535
pISSN - 0009-9236
DOI - 10.1038/clpt.1989.59
Subject(s) - theophylline , pharmacokinetics , gestational age , medicine , physiology , pregnancy , biology , genetics
The pharmacokinetics of theophylline were studied at steady state by stable isotope methodology in nine individual preterm infants. Maturational variables such as postnatal age, postconceptional age, gestational age, duration of treatment, and body weight at the time of the study were analyzed for their influence on theophylline kinetics during the first 6 months of life. The strongest statistical correlations were found between the logarithm of theophylline half‐life (t 1/2 ) and the postnatal age (r = 0.98; p < 0.001) and the postconceptional age (r = 0.96; p < 0.001). Step‐wise multiple regression analysis revealed postnatal age as the most powerful predictor for theophylline t 1/2 in the neonatal period (partial correlation coefficients were 0.78 for postnatal age, 0.19 for postconceptional age, and 0.10 for gestational age). Gestational age, duration of treatment, and weight did not correlate significantly with any pharmacokinetic parameters. We propose that theophylline metabolizing function of the liver increases in a logarithmic fashion during the first 6 months of life. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (1989) 45, 461–468; doi: 10.1038/clpt.1989.59