Pharmacokinetics of Single‐Dose Reboxetine in Volunteers with Renal Insufficiency

Reboxetine is a new selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (selective NRI) for the short‐ and long‐term treatment of depression that is effective and well tolerated at a dose of 8 to 10 mg/day. This study assessed the pharmacokinetics of reboxetine in volunteers with renal impairment. A single 4 mg dose of reboxetine was administered to a total of 18 volunteers with mild (n = 6), moderate (n = 6), or severe (n = 6) renal impairment (creatinine clearance: 56–64, 26–51, and 9–19 ml/min, respectively), and reboxetine concentrations were measured in plasma by HPLC. Mean AUC ∞ increased by 43% (mild vs. severe; p < 0.01) as renal function declined, while renal clearance and total urinary excretion of unchanged reboxetine decreased by 67% and 62%, respectively (mild vs. severe; p < 0.01 for both parameters). t max and t 1/2 were not significantly different between groups. In comparison with historical data from young healthy volunteers, AUC ∞ and t 1/2 are at least doubled in volunteers with renal impairment, while CL is halved. This pharmacokinetic study has shown that increasing renal dysfunction leads to increasing systemic exposure to reboxetine, particularly in severe renal insufficiency, although reboxetine was well tolerated by all volunteers. Thus, a reduction of the starting dose of reboxetine to 2 mg twice daily would be prudent in patients with renal dysfunction.