title: Clinical pharmacology of bleomycin following intravenous infusion as determined by radioimmunoassay.
abstract: The clinical pharmacology of bleomycin administered by continuous intravenous infusion over a 4 to 5 day period was examined by nine patients. Patients receiving 30 units per day attained an average steady state plasma level of 145.8 (+/- 43.1) ng/ml bleomycin. Elimination of bleomycin was initially described by first order rate kinetics (t 1/2 = 1.32 +/- 0.39 hour). However, at times greater than 12 hours following termination of infusion, a second elimination phase was observed (t 1/2 = 8.9 +/- 2.7 hour). There was also a high correlation between renal bleomycin clearance and creatinine clearance. The importance of renal clearance was indicated in a patient with renal impairment. This patient attained a steady state bleomycin concentration of 1046 ng/ml and exhibited a terminal elimination half-life of 33 hours. Overall plasma clearance of bleomycin (Qbeta) was generally greater than renal clearance, indicating that a nonrenal clearance mechanism was also important in bleomycin elimination. This nonrenal mechanism became especially apparent during renal failure.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001665:Binding Sites; D001761:Bleomycin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007263:Infusions, Parenteral; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008657:Metabolic Clearance Rate; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001761:Bleomycin