Kinetics of oral and intravenous mexiletine: lack of effect of cimetidine and ranitidine.

The pharmacokinetics of mexiletine, a Class I antiarrhythmic drug, was investigated in 6 healthy volunteers after single oral doses and 15 min intravenous infusions of 3 mg/kg. Cimetidine and ranitidine are commonly used H2-receptor antagonists, which interact adversely with many drugs, e.g. inhibition of the metabolism of Class I antiarrhythmics such as lidocaine and quinidine by cimetidine. To investigate the effects of the two drugs on the kinetics of mexiletine, cimetidine 800 mg.day-1 or ranitidine 600 mg.day-1 were administered orally for one week. Neither H2-receptor antagonist altered the distribution and elimination of mexiletine, nor did they affect its overall kinetics, or excretion of the metabolites para- and 4-OH-methylmexiletine after oral and intravenous administration of mexiletine.