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The pharmacokinetics of a single dose of artemisinin in subjects with liver cirrhosis
Author(s) -
Vries Peter J.,
Khanh Nguyen Xuan,
Dien Tran Khac,
Binh Le Nguyen,
Yen Nguyen Thi,
Due Dao Dinh,
Boxtel Chris J.,
Kager Piet A.,
Berg Bob,
Butter Jan,
Hien Bui,
Koopman R.,
Portier Els,
Song Pham,
Thach Nguyen Cam,
Yen Nguyen Thi
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3156.1997.d01-155.x
Subject(s) - artemisinin , pharmacokinetics , cirrhosis , medicine , liver disease , vietnamese , gastroenterology , dihydroartemisinin , pharmacology , malaria , immunology , plasmodium falciparum , linguistics , philosophy
Summary Artemisinin is mainly eliminated by hepatic transformation. To investigate whether the clearance of artemisinin in patients with liver cirrhosis is different from healthy volunteers, a pharmacokinetic study was performed in male Vietnamese patients with Child B cirrhosis of the liver who received 500 mg of artemisinin orally. The results were compared to those found in a previous study in healthy subjects. The mean (± SD) area under the concentration time curve was 2365 (± 1761)h ng/ml; the mean (± SD) clearance, 382 (± 303)L/h. The elimination half life was 4 (± 1.3)h extimated by log‐linear regression and 2.4 ± 0.9h estimated by non‐linear regression using a one‐compartment first order elimination model. The mean (± SD) absorption time was 1.55 (± 0.8)h. These results were not different from the results of healthy subjects and show that liver disease has no effect on the availability and clearance of oral artemisinin, indicating that artemisinin has an intermediate hepatic extraction ratio and that there is no significant first pass effect.