title: Desipramine clearance in children and adolescents: absence of effect of development and gender.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the influence of development and gender on the pharmacokinetics of desipramine (DMI) in the pediatric population.
  
  
  METHODS
  DMI pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated from 407 routinely drawn, dose- and weight-normalized serum concentrations in 173 youths receiving DMI (90 children, 83 adolescents; 29 were female, 144 were male).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean pharmacokinetic parameters for the entire population included dose (3.78 +/- 1.51 mg/kg), weight- and dose-normalized serum concentration (45.41 +/- 47.39 [micrograms/L]/[mg/kg]), and DMI clearance (0.68 +/- 1.51 [L/kg]/hr). No between-group differences for children and adolescents were detected in dose (child, adolescent) (3.73 +/- 1.40 mg/kg, 3.83 +/- 1.68 mg/kg), weight- and dose-normalized serum concentrations (44.52 +/- 39.6 [micrograms/L]/[mg/kg], 46.34 +/- 34.89 [micrograms/L]/[mg/kg]; p = .62), and clearance (0.680 +/- 0.890 [L/kg]/hr, 0.695 +/- 1.05 [L/kg]/hr; p = .103). No between-group gender differences were detected in dose (male, female) (3.83 +/- 1.55 mg, 3.39 +/- 1.84 mg), weight- and dose-normalized serum concentrations (45.15 +/- 37.76 [micrograms/L]/[mg/kg], 47.14 +/- 34.96 [micrograms/L]/mg/kg]; p = .720), and clearance (0.699 +/- 0.89 [L/kg]/hr, 0.606 +/- 0.535 [L/kg]/hr; p = .390).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that age and gender do not significantly influence DMI clearance or dose-normalized serum concentrations in the pediatric population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114, USA.
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Biederman
authors.forename: T E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Wilens
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mick
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Faraone
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prince
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Flood
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D002648:Child; D003891:Desipramine / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008657:Metabolic Clearance Rate; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic; D003891:Desipramine