title: Pharmacokinetics of hexobarbital in young and old rats.
abstract: Hexobarbital is a drug widely used to study the capacity of the liver to metabolize drugs. The pharmacokinetics of hexobarbital in 3- and 30-month-old male BN/BiRij rats were studied. The half-life of hexobarbital in 30-month-old rats (39.9 +/- 4.1 min) was significantly higher than that of 3-month-old ones (21.3 +/- 3.8 min). The volume of distribution (ml.kg-1 body weight) did not change with age. The intrinsic clearance, expressed as ml.min-1.kg-1 body weight, of hexobarbital in 30-month-old rats (20.2 +/- 6.6) was half that of the 3-month-old ones (39.5 +/- 7.6). Further studies will be performed to investigate the effect of age on the intrinsic clearance of S(+)- and R(-)- hexobarbital.
authors.affiliation: TNO Institute for Experimental Gerontology, Rijswijk, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: I H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Boonstra-Nieveld
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: van Bezooijen
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D006591:Hexobarbital / Q000097:blood / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D051381:Rats; D011914:Rats, Inbred BN
chemical_list: D006591:Hexobarbital