Effects of coadministration of probenecid on pharmacokinetic behaviors of famotidine, an H2-receptor antagonist, after oral administration, were studied in eight young, healthy volunteers. They received an oral 20 mg dose of famotidine with and without coadministration of oral 1500 mg doses of probenecid. The mean area under the serum famotidine concentration-time curve up to 10 hours was increased by coadministration of probenecid from 424 +/- 19 (SEM) to 768 +/- 39 ng.hr/ml. The mean urinary excretion rate of unchanged famotidine, the mean amount of unchanged famotidine excreted in urine up to 24 hours and mean renal clearance were decreased by coadministration of probenecid. The mean tubular secretion clearance of famotidine was decreased from 196.2 +/- 21.4 to 22.0 +/- 4.2 ml/min. These data suggest that probenecid, which is a classical inhibitor of renal tubular secretion of organic anions, inhibits the renal tubular secretion of famotidine, which exists partly in a cationic form under physiological pH conditions.

The pharmacokinetics of the H2-receptor antagonist famotidine, after oral administration of a 20 mg tablet, has been studied in 10 elderly patients with normal renal function (CLCR greater than or equal to 59 ml.min-1, Mean = 80 ml.min-1), 5 elderly patients with renal insufficiency (CLCR less than or equal to 38 ml.min-1, Mean = 15 ml.min-1), and 6 healthy young volunteers. Elimination half-life in the elderly patients with renal insufficiency was significantly prolonged compared to the elderly patients with normal renal function and the young volunteers. The correlation coefficient between creatinine clearance and the elimination rate constant of famotidine was 0.672. Mean urinary recovery of unchanged drug up to 24 h in the young volunteers was 44%. The mean renal clearance of famotidine in the young volunteers (270 ml.min-1) was substantially greater than the creatinine clearance, 128 ml.min-1, which suggests the possibility of tubular secretion of famotidine.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the mechanisms for membrane transport of metformin in human intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells. The mRNA of not only organic cation transporter (OCT) 3, but also OCT1 and OCT2, was expressed in Caco-2 cells. The uptake of 100 µm metformin at the apical membrane of Caco-2 cells grown on porous filter membrane was significantly greater than that at the basolateral membrane. The apical uptake of 100 µm metformin in Caco-2 cells grown on plastic dishes was inhibited significantly by 1 mm unlabeled metformin, quinidine and pyrilamine, indicating that a specific transport system is involved in the apical uptake of metformin in Caco-2 cells. The apical uptake of 100 µm metformin in Caco-2 cells was decreased by acidification of the medium, but not increased by alkalization. In addition, carbonyl cyanide 4-(trifluoromethoxy)phenylhydrazone (a protonophore) had no effect on the apical uptake of metformin in Caco-2 cells at apical medium pH 8.4. These findings suggested that the apical uptake of metformin in Caco-2 cells is mediated at least partly by OCTs, but that the postulated H(+) /tertiary amine antiport system is not responsible for the apical uptake of metformin.

We previously reported that renal function is partly responsible for the interindividual variability of the pharmacokinetics of bisoprolol. The aim of the present study was to examine the variability of bioavailability (F) of bisoprolol in routinely treated Japanese patients and intestinal absorption characteristics of the drug. We first analyzed the plasma concentration data of bisoprolol in 52 Japanese patients using a nonlinear mixed effects model. We also investigated the cellular uptake of bisoprolol using human intestinal epithelial LS180 cells. The oral clearance (CL/F) of bisoprolol in Japanese patients was positively correlated with the apparent volume of distribution (V/F), implying variable F. The uptake of bisoprolol in LS180 cells was temperature-dependent and saturable, and was significantly decreased in the presence of quinidine and diphenhydramine. In addition, the cellular uptake of bisoprolol dissolved in an acidic buffer was markedly less than that dissolved in a neutral buffer. These findings suggest that the rate/extent of the intestinal absorption of bisoprolol is another cause of the interindividual variability of the pharmacokinetics, and that the uptake of bisoprolol in intestinal epithelial cells is highly pH-dependent and also variable.

The pCmil exhibited stability 6 h or later after the continuous infusion of milrinone 0.2 microg/kg/min. The pCmil can be estimated by the value of CLcr and BW.