BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Compared with mannitol, the osmotherapeutic agent sorbitol is less prone to accumulate in the blood and the same quantity may be infused in a smaller volume. Because of these advantageous characteristics, we studied the pharmacokinetics of sorbitol in serum and cerebrospinal fluid. METHODS: Six patients (five women and one man; age range, 46-70 years) with an external ventriculostomy and suffering from brain edema due to cerebrovascular disease received sorbitol as part of their therapy. Before and after the first dose of 50 g infused over 20 minutes, sorbitol concentrations in serum and cerebrospinal fluid were determined repeatedly using an enzymatic procedure. RESULTS: Maximal sorbitol concentrations ranged from 2,705 to 5,821 (median, 3,227) mg/l in serum compared with 6.7-130.7 (median, 19.5) mg/l in cerebrospinal fluid. Cerebrospinal fluid maxima were observed 0.17-3 hours after the end of the infusion. Sorbitol elimination in serum was adequately described by a two-compartment pharmacokinetic model (distribution half-life, 0.05-0.14 hour; elimination half-life, 0.23-0.61 hour). Elimination in cerebrospinal fluid followed a single-exponential decay and was considerably slower than that in serum (half-life, 1.3-7.7 hours). CONCLUSIONS: The maximal cerebrospinal fluid concentration/maximal serum concentration ratio was low for sorbitol, thus suggesting a small potential risk of inducing an increase of intracranial pressure after osmotherapy (rebound effect).
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Compared with mannitol, the osmotherapeutic agent sorbitol is less prone to accumulate in the blood and the same quantity may be infused in a smaller volume. Because of these advantageous characteristics, we studied the pharmacokinetics of sorbitol in serum and cerebrospinal fluid. METHODS: Six patients (five women and one man; age range, 46-70 years) with an external ventriculostomy and suffering from brain edema due to cerebrovascular disease received sorbitol as part of their therapy. Before and after the first dose of 50 g infused over 20 minutes, sorbitol concentrations in serum and cerebrospinal fluid were determined repeatedly using an enzymatic procedure. RESULTS: Maximal sorbitol concentrations ranged from 2,705 to 5,821 (median, 3,227) mg/l in serum compared with 6.7-130.7 (median, 19.5) mg/l in cerebrospinal fluid. Cerebrospinal fluid maxima were observed 0.17-3 hours after the end of the infusion. Sorbitol elimination in serum was adequately described by a two-compartment pharmacokinetic model (distribution half-life, 0.05-0.14 hour; elimination half-life, 0.23-0.61 hour). Elimination in cerebrospinal fluid followed a single-exponential decay and was considerably slower than that in serum (half-life, 1.3-7.7 hours). CONCLUSIONS: The maximal cerebrospinal fluid concentration/maximal serum concentration ratio was low for sorbitol, thus suggesting a small potential risk of inducing an increase of intracranial pressure after osmotherapy (rebound effect).
Authors: R Nau; M Kinzig-Schippers; F Sörgel; S Schinschke; R Rössing; C Müller; H Kolenda; H W Prange Journal: Antimicrob Agents Chemother Date: 1997-05 Impact factor: 5.191
Authors: Waleed Ajaj; Mathias Goyen; Hubert Schneemann; Christiane Kuehle; Michael Nuefer; Stefan G Ruehm; Susanne C Goehde; Thomas C Lauenstein Journal: Eur Radiol Date: 2005-03-08 Impact factor: 5.315