J A Bauer1, J P Balthasar, H L Fung. 1. Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, State University of New York, Buffalo 14260, USA.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Prolonged continuous administration of nitroglycerin (NTG) leads to hemodynamic tolerance. We used a previously developed pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) model of NTG tolerance in experimental heart failure to test whether dosage regimens, designed from this model, may allow avoidance of tolerance development upon continuous NTG infusion. METHODS: Simulation experiments (using ADAPT II) were performed to evolve a time-variant infusion regimen that would theoretically provide sustained hemodynamic effect (30% reduction in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, LVEDP) throughout 10 hours of drug dosing. A computer controlled infusion pump was utilized to deliver this time-variant input. Infusion experiments were then conducted in CHF rats to challenge the predictability of the applied PK/PD model. RESULTS: Simulations showed that exponentially increasing input functions provided more sustained LVEDP effects when compared to linear or hyperbolic input functions delivering the same total NTG dose. A computer-selected infusion regimen of 6.56e0.00156 x minutes micrograms/min was anticipated to provide the desired hemodynamic profile in our animal model. Experiments conducted in rats with congestive heart failure (n = 4) confirmed the prediction of sustained hemodynamic effect without tolerance (28 +/- 4% reduction in LVEDP at 10 hrs). CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the utility of our PK/PD model of NTG tolerance in predicting NTG action, and serve as an example of therapeutic optimization through PK/PD considerations.
PURPOSE: Prolonged continuous administration of nitroglycerin (NTG) leads to hemodynamic tolerance. We used a previously developed pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) model of NTG tolerance in experimental heart failure to test whether dosage regimens, designed from this model, may allow avoidance of tolerance development upon continuous NTG infusion. METHODS: Simulation experiments (using ADAPT II) were performed to evolve a time-variant infusion regimen that would theoretically provide sustained hemodynamic effect (30% reduction in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, LVEDP) throughout 10 hours of drug dosing. A computer controlled infusion pump was utilized to deliver this time-variant input. Infusion experiments were then conducted in CHFrats to challenge the predictability of the applied PK/PD model. RESULTS: Simulations showed that exponentially increasing input functions provided more sustained LVEDP effects when compared to linear or hyperbolic input functions delivering the same total NTG dose. A computer-selected infusion regimen of 6.56e0.00156 x minutes micrograms/min was anticipated to provide the desired hemodynamic profile in our animal model. Experiments conducted in rats with congestive heart failure (n = 4) confirmed the prediction of sustained hemodynamic effect without tolerance (28 +/- 4% reduction in LVEDP at 10 hrs). CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the utility of our PK/PD model of NTG tolerance in predicting NTG action, and serve as an example of therapeutic optimization through PK/PD considerations.