title: Dose-dependent intestinal absorption and significant intestinal excretion (exsorption) of the beta-blocker pafenolol in the rat.
abstract: The elimination of [3H]pafenolol and metabolites was investigated in fasted and fed rats. Separate groups received intravenous doses (0.3 and 3.0 mumol/kg) and oral doses (1 and 25 mumol/kg). After iv administration of pafenolol, the excretion of unchanged drug into urine and feces was about 50 and 25-30% of the given dose, respectively. The predominating mechanism for the excretion of pafenolol into feces was intestinal excretion (exsorption) directly from blood into gut lumen, since only about 3% of a given iv dose was recovered as pafenolol in the bile. When the oral dose was raised from 1 to 25 mumol/kg, the mean (+/- SD) bioavailability, calculated from urine data, increased from 14 +/- 9 to 30 +/- 11% (P < 0.05) in the starved rats and from 14 +/- 3 to 16 +/- 3% in the fed animals. In parallel, the fraction absorbed from the gut (fa) increased from 19 +/- 9 to 31 +/- 10% in the starved rats and from 16 +/- 4 to 19 +/- 5% in the fed animals, respectively. This indicates that the low bioavailability is due primarily to poor intestinal uptake.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics, University of Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lennernäs
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Regårdh
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D000818:Animals; D001682:Biological Availability; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007408:Intestinal Absorption; D008297:Male; D011412:Propanolamines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000652:urine; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; D011412:Propanolamines; C036625:pafenolol