Effect of carteolol on renal function in healthy subjects and patients with hypertension.

The effect of short- and long-term administration of carteolol on renal function has been examined in healthy subjects and in hypertensive patients with or without renal failure. In healthy subjects neither a single dose of 10 mg carteolol nor continuous administration of 20 mg/day for 7 days had any effect on creatinine clearance and renal blood flow. In all subjects the clearance rate of carteolol was about 400 ml/min and its fractional excretion of carteolol exceeded 300%, suggesting that the drug is secreted actively from renal tubules. Twenty-three hypertensive patients with or without renal dysfunction were given carteolol 10 to 20 mg/day for more than 50 weeks in addition to their standard antihypertensive regimens, which were left changed. Laboratory results were compared with the mean values of 50 weeks before and after the addition of carteolol, and none, including plasma creatinine, blood urea nitrogen and electrolytes, were significantly changed. Neither the estimated glomerular filtration rate nor the effect of the drug on blood pressure changed significantly during this prolonged treatment. It is concluded that carteolol had no effect on renal function in healthy subjects and in hypertensive patients with or without renal failure.