Kinetics of a single dose combination of nifedipine/acebutolol in patients with chronic liver disease.

The plasma kinetics of a nifedipine/acebutolol fixed dose combination were estimated after a single oral dose in patients with chronic liver disease and in a healthy control group of the same age. The drug metabolism evidently slowed down in the group with chronic liver disease. The plasma elimination half-lives of acebutolol, diacetolol and nifedipine of these patients were about twice as long as that in the control group. Doses of these drugs should be accordingly reduced, particularly in cirrhosis.