Renal function, protein binding and pharmacological response to diazoxide.

1 The effect of rapid (10s) injections of diazoxide was studied in ten hypertensive patients with varying degrees of impairment of renal function. 2 There was a significant correlation between the patient's plasma urea concentration and reduction in mean arterial blood pressure. Diazoxide was also shown to be less highly protein bound in patients with renal failure. 3 It is suggested that the explanation for the increased hypotensive effect of diazoxide observed in patients with reduced renal function is related to higher unbound drug concentrations.